Due to the new Zandvoort parking policy that was introduced last Friday, disabled people also have to pay for parking in all districts. It now appears that the parking meters are too far away from the disabled parking spaces and online parking apps are difficult to use. In addition, these Zandvoort residents find it unfair that the parking ticket they have already paid for is no longer valid in their own village.
People with a disabled parking card have difficulty walking and therefore in many cases depend on the car to move within the village. Previously, they could park for free for two hours with the card, but since 1 July they also have to pay 3.50 euros per hour between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
“I bought the disabled card for 150 euros, but what is it worth now?” asks Willy Meinema. De Zandvoort thinks it is ridiculous that she now has to pay by the hour. “All this has to come from a WAO benefit, which is equal to a minimum income. Everything is already becoming more and more expensive and now this is added,” she sighs.
Parking at the supermarket in Oranjestraat in particular is an eyesore. “To get to that parking meter you have to walk up something like 400 meters. That is not possible at all,” Meinema says indignantly. You are only eligible for a disabled parking card if a medical examination shows that you cannot walk more than 100 meters.
Atie van Diemen and her husband are also in trouble because of the new parking policy. “My husband has Alzheimer’s, he often has to go to the doctor and I take him to the shelter in South a few times a week.” For those visits, she and her husband depend on the car.
“Now you have to pay everywhere to park,” she says. “You can still park in a disabled parking space, but you have to walk very far to the parking meter.” According to her, the people who use the disabled parking spaces are mainly elderly people, ‘who cannot use a telephone well’.
Van Diemen is referring to the parking apps that can be used for paid parking. “I don’t know how to do that myself, I’ve always parked with my disabled card.” In addition, according to local resident Willy Meinema, the apps do not always work properly, for example, the street names in the apps are sometimes incorrect.
Van Diemen and Meinema are not the only ones experiencing problems with the new parking policy in this way, according to a parking research by NH Nieuws† For example, another Zandvoorter in the NH parking survey indicates that the new policy means that more beachgoers are parking in the street. As a result, your own car has to be parked further away. “Very annoying, especially if you have rheumatism or osteoarthritis.”
Another local resident, who also parks with a disabled card, indicated that from now on he would have to schedule all appointments outside the door before 10:00 in the morning. “If I have to go to the center, for example for physiotherapy or shopping, it has to be done before that time. After that it costs me 3.50 euros per hour and I can’t afford that.”
“If you go shopping, it is much better to drive to Haarlem or Velserbroek. You can still park there with a disabled card,” Meinema continues. “But then you’re actually doing the shopkeepers here short.” She parks her car for now with a blue disc and a disabled card, because ‘they don’t fine yet’.
Van Diemen is also concerned about the consequences of the new parking policy. “If I take my husband to the shelter, I can park there for free for two hours in a row once a day. But when I come to pick him up again, I have to pay.”
She is disappointed because they have both already paid for a disabled card. “And to be allowed to park in that area, I also have to purchase another permit. We both only have our state pension to make ends meet,” she sighs. “Due to this new parking policy, people with disabilities are actually forced to stay at home.”