CAIR Monmouthshire has spoken out against Monmouthshire County Council's proposals to charge disabled people for parking in Monmouthshire car parks. Monmouthshire County Council's Economy and Development Select Committee has approved the decision to take its recommendation to charge Blue Badge holders to park to Cabinet for a final decision. This proposal means that Blue Badge holders would have to pay to park, but would receive a concession of an extra hour parking over and above the period paid for, and that tickets are transferrable to all car parks in the relevant town. This decision has been widely debated by the Monmouthshire Diversity and Equality Group, and the decision has been made due to the fact that Blue Badges are not means tested or based on income, and it is becoming common practice in many private sector car parks. But representatives from CAIR feel that this practice could have repercussions, and that disabled people tend to be the most vulnerable section of a community financially. Jenny Barnes from CAIR said, "Disabled people are, on average, one of the poorest sections of the community, and to charge them for parking in their towns is against the spirit of MCC's stated beliefs. The Blue Badge is not means tested. It is allowed simply on mobility need. If it was means tested, as some other benefits are, many people would be too proud to apply. It is mainly given by MCC on the word of doctors." She also spoke out about the accessibility of car parking facilities, which would need to greatly improve if they were to rely on charging disabled people for their use; "The car parks need improving to be accessible," she said. "This is very costly. If this was done it would still be too far to walk to the machine and back to the car before starting to shop, or visit a doctor or post a letter." But the council has stated that the introduction of charges will coincide with at least one pay machine being made DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant in the car park when the charge commences, along with improvement to the design and space allowed in dedicated Blue Badge parking spaces. But representatives from CAIR are still unhappy that this decision is being considered, and have criticised the council that this is a mere attempt to make money., Jenny added, "This bit of legislation seems to be a cynical money-making exercise using the poorest in the community to pay for it. Where is your compassion MCC? Shame on you." MCC officers will undertake more work to look at means testing, ahead of the decision being made by Cabinet in the coming months.