What use is a 30 minute disabled parking bay outside a theatre and art gallery?

I attended the Congress theatre last night with my disabled mother and parked in one of the ‘new’ disabled parking bays outside the theatre.

When we returned to our car, there was a penalty notice warning (no fine on this occasion) advising that we were in contravention of the parking regulation for those particular bays.

When we checked the terms of parking, which is normally three hours, we realised that the maximum period of time allowed to park in one of these bays is 30 minutes!

What is the use of a 30 minute disabled parking bay, especially outside a theatre and the art gallery.

It is obvious the time required to attend a show will be longer and it has actually disadvantaged disabled people who hold a blue badge.

Before the Congress theatre closed, car owners could park directly outside the theatre on double yellow lines providing they displayed their blue badge.

This area has now been turned into disabled parking bays with a 30 minute limit.

I am not sure what the council are hoping to achieve with this ridiculous limit – who goes to the theatre or art gallery for 30 minutes, this is not allowing time for the disabled person to leave the car, get to venue and back?

I cannot even begin to think why there is a 30 minute limit and what purpose it serves.

Maybe you could take this story up and look into this strange and totally useless restriction for these parking bays. [see page 16]