Disabled parking plea

Mr Sainsbury is annoyed that people regularly park in Acrod disabled bays without permits.

“They do so knowing it is a disabled bay, as they are clearly marked, but they are too lazy to walk,” he said.

“People do it all the time, especially during the busy periods and something needs to be done.

“We need to educate them that these bays are for people who are disabled.”

He said people with disabilities were finding it hard to go shopping and access medical facilities and there was an increasing number of aged people needing to use these facilities.

“Because of these ignorant people, the disabled are forced to walk long distances,” he said.

“A lot of shopping centres do the right thing but some won’t do anything,”

Mr Sainsbury encouraged shopping centres to take a more active role in enforcing regulations and also suggested City of Armadale rangers become involved if necessary.

But they currently lacked the authority to patrol in shopping centre carparks, which is something he would like to see changed, as Mr Sainsbury acknowledged that they did a good job on City streets.

Armadale City Shopping Centre manager Quentin Dennis said the centre understood “the frustration valid Acrod parkers may experience when they cannot find an open bay and ask all to contact security as soon as possible if they identify non-compliant parkers, so we may respond appropriately”.

“We provide a total of 28 Acrod bays for vehicles displaying a valid disability permit; 14 of these spaces are in our undercover carparks and all are located in close proximity to the centre’s entrances,” Mr Dennis said. “The remaining 14 Acrod bays are located on our top deck carpark, with shade sail coverage and are also located close to centre entrances.”

He said the centre also had a further 12 Senior Bays and six Parent with Prams bays.

“We endeavour to always remind customers that these bays exist for selected groups in the community,” he said.

Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones said only councils had the power to issue modified penalties.

“However, to enable the City to enforce the regulations within a private parking facility, an agreement must be in place with the owners of the parking facility,” Cr Zelones said. “The City strictly enforces these provisions in public spaces but does not currently have an agreement in place within either of the City’s main shopping centres.

“Members of the public should always be aware of the penalties involved and the importance of keeping these specially marked bays available for those with disability.”

Cr Zelones said the City did not receive many complaints as people were aware of the restrictions for Acrod parking.

“However when necessary, the City’s rangers enforce the penalty for unauthorised use of these bays,” he said.