Furious community leaders have lambasted Fife Council for treating disabled residents as “easy prey” for budget cuts by introducing a £20 fee for blue badges.
Ian Robertson, chairman of the Glenrothes Area Residents Federation, says that Blue Badge holders throughout the region will not tolerate the introduction of the new administration fee to process their applications.
Fife Council approved the new levy as part of its budget earlier this month, prompting the outburst against the local authority.
Though the charge is not set to be introduced until next year, Mr Robertson and fellow campaigner David Nelson have urged for those affected to unite and voice their anger at the council, which claims that the savings will help to balance its books.
David Ross, the administration leader, has been written to, while Mr Nelson is already planning to host a public meeting to launch a public campaign against the charge.
“We need to help our disabled people, not take from them,” Mr Robertson told The Courier.
Fife Council, however, has defended the new fee, saying that it is currently one of only a handful of authorities not to charge for blue badges.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Fife edition of The Courier.