I write in response to Councillor Clarke’s letter of March 29 (Reject these blue badge proposals and hold review) which clearly shows how little he is in touch with what is happening on the council.

To enlighten him I would explain that the consultation on the proposed dualling of blue badge spaces in the Town Hall car park after 4pm lasted from February 14 to March 19.

No objections to the proposals were received from members of the public and no objections were received from the Access Group or from the Equalities Forum.

At its meeting on March 21, the environment committee therefore agreed that the dualling should proceed.

Appropriate signs were ordered and will be displayed on April 24. From that date there will be a monthly survey over the ensuing year, at the end of which a review based on these surveys will be undertaken.

I am surprised that Coun Clarke was not aware of these facts since one of his colleagues sits on the environment committee.

On the issue of charging blue badge holders to park in borough car parks, Coun Clarke has informed your readers that Conservative controlled Elmbridge Council does not impose this charge.

He has, however, failed to point out that Conservative controlled Spelthorne charges blue badge drivers in all its car parks while Conservative controlled Guildford, Surrey Heath and Woking all charge blue badge drivers in their multi-storey car parks.

Coun Clarke does a disservice to disabled people by conflating disability with the inability to pay to park their cars.

Experience has shown that the most important thing for disabled people is availability and access with sufficient space to open the car door wide enough to enable them to get out.

That is precisely what the Residents’ Association-led council has achieved.

As for Coun Clarke’s comments about a review of car parking, he is clearly not aware that there is in fact a Joint Parking Strategy Group made up of both county and borough councillors and officers.

This has been working since 2009 and a definitive strategy for the borough, taking into account the needs of all residents and local businesses is imminent.

The blame for the delay in producing the strategy lies with the Conservative controlled county council.

I do hope that the three Conservative councillors will give their support to the strategy as have the Liberal Democrat councillors on the strategy group.

This is not a party political matter but something which our residents and businesses have long needed.

Councillor Jean Smith
Chairman of the Environment Committee