Renfrewshire Council

Disabled persons' parking places

The Disabled Persons' Parking Places (Scotland) Act was introduced on 1 October 2009 to make all disabled parking bays legally enforceable.

This means that any unauthorised drivers caught using these bays could be fined.

The Act affects all types of disabled parking places, including:

  • all street disabled persons' parking places, including those in pay-and-display metered areas (e.g. those in Paisley Town Centre)
  • all disabled persons' parking places in car parks, including those at shops and offices, and
  • all disabled persons' parking places in new developments, such as at new blocks of flats.

To comply with the Act and to make sure disabled parking bays in Renfrewshire are not misused, the council is processing Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) for all types of disabled parking places to make them legally enforceable.

A TRO can take 9-12 months to process, assuming no objections are received. Once the TRO is in place, the parking place will become enforceable and will be accompanied by a sign like the one shown to the left.

Parking attendants are then able to issue penalties to any unauthorised drivers using these parking places.

'Street' disabled bays

We have now finished surveying all disabled street parking places and have written to the people who originally requested them to determine if they are still needed.

Any bays that are no longer needed will be removed.

All new applications for disabled persons' parking places will be assessed by Renfrewshire Council and, where an advisory disabled persons' parking place is installed, a TRO will need to be processed.

Please note that these places will not be enforceable until the TRO process is completed.

Car parks

Individuals or businesses that own, share or manage off-street car parks have also been contacted by the council asking if they wish the council to enforce the disabled persons' parking places within their car park.

Who enforces them (if anyone) and how this is done is the car park owner's choice.

Those responsible for car parks have similarly received a letter and a questionnaire to submit and return.

The Act requires the council to repeat this exercise at regular intervals and we will therefore contact owners every two years to make sure details are up to date. Completed questionnaires should be returned to the address at the bottom of the page.

Where owners of car parks want the council to enforce their disabled persons' parking places, the council requires to make a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO

If you receive a letter but you do not own or manage an off-street car park, you should still complete the form and return it, either by post or e-mail at the address detailed below, so that we can update our records.

If you receive a questionnaire and the property in which your business operates has a landlord, you should either pass it onto the landlord or factor or advise us of their name and address for us to contact them directly.

If you own or manage an off-street car park and have not received a questionnaire, please let us know by contacting us using the details at the bottom of this page.

New developments

The council is required to make arrangements with developers who have included off-street advisory disabled persons' parking places within any new developments.

We will do this within three months of any planning permission being granted.

How to apply for a disabled parking bay 

Email ei@renfrewshire.gov.uk with  

  • a copy of your blue badge 
  • your name 
  • your address 
  • your contact telephone number 
  • proof of a vehicle registered at your address - this can be a V5, Bill of Sale or Motability agreement letter. 

You can attach copies of your documents as photos or scans with your email.  

If you have any difficulties applying or sending us your documents, contact Customer Services at 0300 300 0300 

  • Monday to Thursday from 8:45am to 4:45pm 
  • Friday from 8:45am to 3:55pm. 

If you have a private driveway or off-road parking area, you can't apply for a disabled parking bay. 

After the application has been submitted

The whole process for the lining of the disabled parking bay can take up to 12 weeks. Relevant checks are made on the application and you will only be contacted if there is a problem.

A site visit will be carried out to ascertain a location for the disabled parking place. This is generally the closest location to the house of the applicant. It is important that if you have a preferred location for the bay that this is specified in your application. (You do not need to be home when site visit is carried out).

An Instruction will then be sent to our contractor who will carry out the road marking on the street. (We will provide the contractor with your details should they need the car to be moved).

Disabled bays are no longer tied to one house and can be used by anyone displaying a blue badge. Please note that disabled parking bays no longer have house numbers or disabled symbols marked within the bays. Current regulations use the word 'DISABLED' alongside the bay.  The bay will be marked on the street before the accompanying Traffic Regulation Order is made (see below). At this time the Disabled Parking Bay is only advisory. 

After the bay is marked on the street

In order to make the bay enforceable it has to be included in a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).  Every new bay will automatically be included in the next TRO being made. A TRO can take 9-12 months to process, assuming no objections are received. Once the TRO is in place, the parking place will become enforceable and will be accompanied by a 'Blue Badge Holders Only' sign erected at the bay.

Parking attendants are then able to issue penalties to any unauthorised drivers using the Disabled Parking Bay. 

Blue Badges must be displayed at all times when parked in a Disabled Parking Bay.