Jeanette uses a wheelchair for mobility and has a mobility card allowing her to park in disabled parking spaces. She finds that these spaces are usually taken up by couriers, people using the ATM machine or “someone just going to get their lunch.”

She commented “heaven forbid that a disabled person might want to park there”, as she usually drives around, again and again, waiting for one of the parks to clear.

Jeanette said that private disability parks in places such as supermarkets are the worst as no one monitors them or is interested in a complaint about misuse of the parking spaces.

She believes accessibility legislation could make a huge difference to the misuse of disability parks with fines being imposed for misappropriation of both public and private spaces.

This is my access story, it is one of many. I'm sharing it because I want a law that puts accessibility at the heart of an inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand.

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