‘Bullied’ woman with collapsed lung claims housing association took away disabled parking spot

A man has claimed his disabled sister is being “bullied” by her housing association after her parking permit was removed.

Southwark council housed Ellie Alleeson, 31, in a Clarion Housing apartment block in Province Drive, Rotherhithe, 10 years ago due to her disability, which affects her respiratory system and results in her lungs regularly collapsing.

Ms Alleeson’s condition means that she struggles to walk for longer than 10 minutes. Shortly after she was housed in Burlington House she was given a parking permit for the underground car park. 

Two weeks ago her parking permit went out of date, but when she tried to renew the permit with Clarion Housing, she was told she had never been given one and that there was no space in the car park for her.

Ms Alleeson’s brother, Jamie Whitmore, 36, said: “I’m at my wit’s end. It’s mind blowing how they can treat someone like this.”

Mr Whitmore claimed that his sister contacted Southwark council to complain about Clarion Housing, and soon after the housing association told Ms Alleeson she could have a permit if she stopped complaining.

When the council sent a follow-up email regarding the permit, Clarion revoked Ms Alleeson’s permit once again, Mr Whitmore claims.

He said: “They’re saying there are no parking spaces for her but I’ve seen the car park and it’s empty. Cars have no permits or tickets, some have even been abandoned there.

“It’s a punishment for complaining. Why would they only be treating one person like this?”

Clarion has since offered Ms Alleeson a temporary parking permit until September.

Mr Whitmore said: “This is only a temporary solution. By September Ellie will be back at square one.

“The alternative is a permit in another block, but they’re missing the point, if she could walk all the way to another block she wouldn’t need the permit.”

A spokesman from Clarion Housing said: “We apologise for the inconvenience this issue has caused Ms Alleeson.

“Once we were made aware of the issue, we arranged for the tickets she received to be waived and have confirmed that she can continue to use the parking space.

“We will work with the managing agent to understand how this situation came about and why suitable alternative arrangements were not provided for our resident. 

“Our housing team has been in contact with Ms Alleeson and we will continue to keep her updated.”

Pictured top: From left The empty car park under Ms Alleeson’s apartment block, Ms Alleeson in hospital after she suffered a collapsed lung (Picture: Jamie Whitmore)