Parking!!!

minardifans

Hi there,

I live on a terraced street.
Nearly all the houses on the street have kerbs but outside my house the kerb disappears so that my front gate opens out onto the main road. The road therefore gets wider leaving space for a car to be parked in front of the house. We've parked in front of our house for years with no problems at all but when you do park in front of my house you are basically 30cm away from the front gate that opens out into the main road. This is the only access to the front of the house as the back door opens into an alleyway that is not safe when dark.

Recently a young couple that live down the road have decided they are going to come home from work before me and plonk their car in front of our house. I know that people can park wherever on a terraced street but with there being no pavement in-front of our house it means that if I wanted to take delivery of a large item like a sofa or fridge or want to get a pram or wheelchair into the house then it would be a real struggle to get passed their car into the front gate.

I can see it being a bit hypocritical to say that we've parked our own car there, but in the event of a delivery or emergency then I can get the keys and move my car, I can't move my neighbours...

Is there anything I can do about this?

Strider590

minardifans wrote: »

basically 30cm away from the front gate that opens out into the main road.

Go speak to them, say your concerned the post man, paper boy, window cleaners, may hit their car when opening your gate?

z1a

Make your gate open inwards, the normal way.

Fat_Walt

minardifans wrote: »

Hi there,

I live on a terraced street.
Nearly all the houses on the street have kerbs but outside my house the kerb disappears so that my front gate opens out onto the main road. The road therefore gets wider leaving space for a car to be parked in front of the house. We've parked in front of our house for years with no problems at all but when you do park in front of my house you are basically 30cm away from the front gate that opens out into the main road. This is the only access to the front of the house as the back door opens into an alleyway that is not safe when dark.

Recently a young couple that live down the road have decided they are going to come home from work before me and plonk their car in front of our house. I know that people can park wherever on a terraced street but with there being no pavement in-front of our house it means that if I wanted to take delivery of a large item like a sofa or fridge or want to get a pram or wheelchair into the house then it would be a real struggle to get passed their car into the front gate.

I can see it being a bit hypocritical to say that we've parked our own car there, but in the event of a delivery or emergency then I can get the keys and move my car, I can't move my neighbours...

Is there anything I can do about this?

Have they actually obstructed you from getting a fridge or sofa into the property and how often do you need to access it from your wheelchair?

minardifans

z1a wrote: »

Make your gate open inwards, the normal way.

It opens both ways... but that's not the point. If I wanted to take a piece of furniture into my house or a pram or wheelchair through my own front gate I wouldn't be able to unless I got hold of the neighbour to move their car.

minardifans

Fat_Walt wrote: »

Have they actually obstructed you from getting a fridge or sofa into the property and how often do you need to access it from your wheelchair?

Yes and they have parked so close to the wall that we've had to literally squeeze between the wall and their car and fold their door mirror in to get past.

Fat_Walt

minardifans wrote: »

Yes and they have parked so close to the wall that we've had to literally squeeze between the wall and their car and fold their door mirror in to get past.

So how did you get the sofa in?

minardifans

Fat_Walt wrote: »

So how did you get the sofa in?

Well they don't park there 24hrs a day...365 days of the year. And I don't buy a sofa every day either. But if they were there we'd be stuffed. We did have a freezer delivered by AO and because they were stuck out in the road because their car was there, a Focus crashed into it.

It's not just the inconvenience of big items, I did mention that there is no curb so it makes it difficult for people to get in or out, especially with shopping bags. Imagine going out of your front door, there is a gate 2ft from the front door and a car literally right in front of that gate less than 1ft from the front of the gate. No pavement. Mainly I just think it's bloody rude when 90% of the time there is space to park outside their own house.

baza52

so its ok for you to park there but not anyone else?

forgotmyname

A focus crashed into your fridge freezer? I do hope your fridge was correctly taxed and insured as an electric vehicle

So AO left the fridge in the middle of the road? I have bought items from them and they were very helpful and asked me several times if i was sure about leaving the item on the doorstep.

Where do you park when that space is taken? How do you get in and out with only 1ft of space when your car is parked there?

Aylesbury_Duck

minardifans wrote: »

Is there anything I can do about this?

There are a few things you can do.

1. Nothing, just suck it up and when you do need to next order a fridge or sofa, make sure you come home early and get your own car there first.
2. Speak to the couple and ask if they would mind not parking outside your house, or when you do next have a large delivery, if they would mind moving their car.
3. Buy the cheapest car you can find and park it permanently outside your house.
4. Ultimately, if it is that much of a concern, move to a house with allocated parking or a drive.