AN estate agent has told of her fears of not being able to do her job after discovering the wait for Blue Badges to be renewed in West Dunbartonshire has nearly doubled.
Fiona McKay, who lives in Old Kilpatrick, told the Reporter she was shocked to learn that the typical three-month waiting period for badges to be reissued had reportedly shot up to five months.
The 62-year-old said she applied for her pass to be renewed twelve weeks prior to its expiry date but only learned of the delays after chasing it up.
Fiona explained that she depends on her Blue Badge to be able to do her job as an estate agent in Glasgow as painlessly as possible due to a significant respiratory issue.
Fiona said: “They [West Dunbartonshire Council] remind you leading up to the date that it runs out to reapply.
“It normally takes around 12 weeks to get it so I was chasing that up as I had applied within the required time frame and they told me it will now take five months.
“So it’s gone from three to five months to process these. I’m semi-retired and I work in property so I’m viewing a lot of flats and at the moment it’s very, very busy because students are moving around.
“I’m in Glasgow a lot for work and I love it because I meet new people. However, I need to be close to what I’m doing as I can’t walk miles and miles to show a flat.
“The badge is really helpful with the conditions I have to maintain employment and aside from keeping employment it supports me with a lot of things.
“Without the badge, I’d be in a good bit of pain.”
Fiona has been referred for knee replacement surgery however she believes it will be a “couple of years” before she is taken.
In the meantime, she said she wants to be able to continue doing her job to the best of her ability.
The 62-year-old explained that one of her biggest concerns is a reported lack of communication between the local authority and residents regarding the delay.
Fiona added: “I wonder if there are other people out there who are at renewal point who will end up without a badge.
“People will be totally hemmed in, in the sense that they may not be able to get close to where they want to be and if it’s too painful for them they just won’t go out.
“This is the first time that I’ve encountered a delay with getting my pass back. When I phoned up the council they were ready with complaints details.
“I really need to do my job and get the students housed. That’s an important thing for me and I need my car to work – it is essential.
“The issue is you aren’t hearing about the delay until you chase it up. The council isn’t even being responsible about this and writing out to say that there are going to be delays.
“If I’d known this a month ago I would have started chasing it up earlier.”
A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We are sorry for the delay in progressing Ms McKay’s Blue Badge and we thank her for her patience.
“We understand the difficulties faced by residents who rely on having a valid Blue Badge and we have been working hard to reduce the waiting list of applications and continue to make significant progress.
“All Blue Badges have expiry dates clearly marked on them and we would ask residents to assist us by applying for their new badge at least eight weeks in advance of that, to ensure there is no delay when their current badge expires.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here