Reserved parking places

What is the purpose of a reserved parking place?

The Department of Infrastructure provides reserved parking places for disabled people who are permanently unable to walk or have considerable difficulty walking, who have no alternative off street parking available such as a drive or nearby garage and live in an area where parking is difficult. They are also available for members of the emergency services, any application would require a letter of support from their officer in charge.

What type of vehicles are permitted to park in a reserved parking place?

Department policy allows for a class of vehicle called Class A vehicles.

These are defined as:

• motor cars (including dual purpose vehicles, i.e. 4x4's)
• motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars
• tricycles (3 wheeled vehicles not exceeding 500kg unladen weight)
• invalid carriages
• light goods vehicles (including car derived vans) not exceeding 2000kg maximum laden weight and not exceeding 4.5m in length.

Please note: Reserved parking places are not authorised for use by camper vans.

Who is entitled to apply for a reserved parking place?

The following lists the 3 categories of people for whom reserved car parking places may be authorised:

1. The disabled person must have considerable difficulty walking and who need easy access to their homes
2. The carers of disabled persons, in receipt of a blue disabled badge, who cannot be left unattended whilst the vehicle is collected from elsewhere, and must reside at the same address
3. Members of the emergency services, for example, the lifeboat and fire services

Criteria used to make a decision on eligibility

The following criteria are adopted when considering applications for reserved parking places:

• Only Class A vehicles are eligible for a reserved parking place
• The disabled person or a member of the household must be the driver of the vehicle
• The disabled person must have substantial difficulty walking
• The disabled person must be in possession of a blue disabled badge

Application forms

The application form is available for download on this page which must be submitted to:

The form must be accompanied by the vehicle registration (log) book together with proof of residence, for example a rent book or a bill from a statutory authority such as gas, electricity, telephone etc.

If the application is approved a Road Traffic Order must be prepared and advertised before any instruction can be given for appropriate lines and markings to be made in the street adjacent to the residence. This process may take several months but is provided free of charge to those who qualify and the reserved parking place is situated as close to an applicant's place of residence as is safely possible.

When a place has been authorised a permit is issued which must be displayed together with the orange or blue disabled persons badge issued by the Department of Social Care (in the case of disabled persons) whenever the vehicle is parked in the reserved parking place.

All reserved parking permits are renewed on an annual basis in December. Reminders and renewal forms are sent to all permit holders in November. The reserved parking areas for those permits that are not renewed will be removed.

Conditions of use of reserved parking places

1. The permit and Blue Badge must be clearly displayed on the front windscreen at all times when the vehicle is parked in the reserved parking place. Failure to do so may result in the issuing of a fixed penalty notice.
2. Vehicles and their contents are parked at owners risk and the Department will accept no liability for loss or damage to vehicles or persons however caused.
3. The permit holder is responsible for the safe keeping of the permit and must notify the Department immediately of any loss of the permit.
4. Permits are renewed on an annual basis and must be surrendered back to the Department when no longer required.
5. Permit holders must advise the Department of any change of address, and/or change of vehicle.
6. Permits remain the property of the Department and are not transferable to other persons.
7. In the event of any abuse of these conditions, and without prejudice to any action capable of being brought under the relevant road traffic legislation, the Department reserves the absolute right to recall and cancel the holder's permit at any time and to decline thereafter to allocate any further permits to the person concerned.

Right of appeal

Should an application for a reserved parking place be turned down, applicants have a right of appeal. An appeal form may be obtained from the Highways Administration Section and should be submitted with accompanying documents (if any) within 21 days of the date of refusal.

*Regulations are made under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1985