Fellow Charlton Fans:- This will not of interest to too many able-bodied fans, but as a disabled long standing fan of more than 27 years l have to vent my anger this morning. For the past few seasons l and 14 other disabled fans have been allowed to park our vehicles on land in Lansdowne Mews; just a few yards from the entrance to the ground. The area in question was always stewarded by CAFC employees on match days, and by and large the residents in the near- by houses moved their vehicles on match-days to allow us to park there. However, on arriving at the ground yesterday l was informed by a unknown individual (not official steward) that l could only park where l intended if l paid a fee of 20.00!! I informed him to 'go away' and showed him my official CAFC permit which enabled me to park and continued with parking my vehicle; the ensuing scenario could have turned rather nasty had a steward not arrived on the scene at that particular moment. It was explained to me that apparently the land had recently been sold by a Charlton director, but the stewards had not been made aware of it!! The Chief steward then made arrangements for me to park inside the gates, but explained that this would mean l would be boxed-in at the end of the game and l would have to wait some time at the end of the match; l was obviously happy to do as instructed knowing that my vehicle was going to be safely parked while watching the game. However, l also spoke to the stewards about next season; what was going to happen? Obviously, they could not say for sure, but the general view was that it was unlikely that l and the other 14 supporters (and others that join them on match days), would be able to be found parking facilities, and therefore would no longer be able to attend matches next season!!!. Obviously l cannot speak for others who may be affected by this decision; but personally l will be very very disappointed if l am unable to attend games. I followed the team to Palace and West Ham when we did not have our own ground, l was one of the many tens of thousands at Wembley in 1998; is my 'charlton life' to end on a promotion in 2012? Does this mean they are willing to cast aside loyal disabled fans because (allegedly) a director chose now to cash in on his investment and earn a few extra quid to add to his bank account; l thought Charlton was labelled as the 'Community Club' on this evidence l doubt it!! As a 5 year VIP (????) season ticket holder l guess l and others will find out just how 'community minded' we are as a Club in the next few months. Naturally, no decision has yet come from the Club regarding the parking arrangements for next season. However, l would be most grateful if as many Charlton fans as possible could write to the club on behalf of the disabled fans. On a personal note, l intend to write to Mr Slater and Rick Everitt in the hope l can achieve a favourable outcome to the current situation. Please help if you can; your assistance could prove to be invaluable!! On behalf of all Charlton disabled fans 'THANK YOU' in anticipation.
Write to the local mp and council. I am sure that they will be interested to hear from you, I cannot speak with authority but the club are obliged to provide parking and disabled facilities at the ground, as a consequence of its planning permission. I'm guessing but I hope it's an oversight on the part of the club. If not, keep posting here and you will get a lot of support.
I will send you a private messsage Rufus. Not sure if you've used this facility before, so you'll see a red box in the top right notifying you of a notification
I am due to write to the club on a number of issues including for a friend of mine who felt uncomfortable in the South Stand surrounded by an anti social mob without action being taken in a timely way and will happily mention the importance of accessible parking facilities for people with disabilities, being in the same category myself. I would also suggest contacting the councillors for Charlton ward who will also be able to take up the matter on your behalf details via the Royal Greenwich website http://committees.greenwich.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0
I hope and am sure a favourable outcome will surface before next season starts rufus, it must surely be something that is in their plans to be sorted anyway asap.
Rufus - have a gander on Charlton life. There is a thread on there about this. Presumably you are the "mate" in question. The good news is that the club appear to be on the case. The bad news is that this has fcuked up any stadium expansion plans that we may or may not have had.
Rufus that is just not on, i go to games with my Uncle, my other half and my Grandmother, who has a disabled badge and although she is not in a wheelchair has great difficulty walking for long distances as she has quite a few things wrong with her. We normally park in a little side road near the ground, where the new houses were built on the other side of the fence near the tunnel at Ransom Walk. But over the last 2 seasons it has become increasingly difficult to park there as it is a residential area and quite a few fans park there anyway. Several times this season we have had to park in one of the industrial estates that means a 10-15 minute walk for my poor old Nan, who hasn't made much of a fuss as she is just glad to be able to go to the games in the first place. I do feel something should be done about this situation as this is not what i or many others would expect from what you have rightly described as a community club. If you wouldn't mind, i think it would be a good idea to start a petition for the club to sort this out, as it should have adequate parking for disabled fans and able bodied fans anyway. If we were to get back up into the Premier League and one day even secure European football, the fan base would increase and i just don't see where the new influx of supporters would park, which is a missed opportunity for the club. I am sure if you start a petition most if not all users on here would be happy to sign it and send it around to add to the cause, best of luck and keep us all informed.
Thanks; l have seen the relevant entries on 'Charlton Life' no; l am not the 'mate' referred to. I would like to think this has opened a can of worms which will be followed up by all concerned Addicks (both disabled and able bodied) . I am indeed concerned by the following article copied from the aforementioned 'Charlton Life' '....The land was sold some time ago, by Bob Whitehand. Unfortunately, nobody told the club management, so we continued to use it for disabled parking. When we found out - in the last month - we tried to arrange for it to continue to be used for the last two games of the season. The owner changed his mind this week, but the first we knew about the £20 parking there was at midday on Saturday. We're well aware that we have a disabled parking issue to resolve and will be working on it over the summer, but you shouldn't blame the current board or management for selling the land (a very stupid thing to have done from the club's perspective). The fact nobody told the head of operations or the ticket office when it was sold speaks volumes Incidentally, I talk to CADSA reps regularly about ticketing and travel and I'm not aware of any discussions this week. However, we didn't know what the situation would be on Saturday, so we couldn't have discussed it. There is other disabled parking on club land at the Bartram Gate and this remains in use.....' I am not sure as to the identity of the author of the above; but how on earth did the club not know about this? Watch this space!
It certainly beggars belief that the club didn't know about this in advance. . Let's hope they get it sorted out quickly and in the appropriate way.
