Parking Issues..

Aylesbury_Duck

Why not park further to the right (from the vantage point of the photo), i.e. put the car where the path to the front door is? That way you've got an easier swing for move A, following the verge kerb around an arc?

bigisi

Take that tiny bit of fence out and give yourself the extra space to swing.

T3RRY

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Why not park further to the right (from the vantage point of the photo), i.e. put the car where the path to the front door is? That way you've got an easier swing for move A, following the verge kerb around an arc?

We would, but what that picture and the other one don't show is that there is a porch (0.89cm outwards) so the front of the car goes in between the fence and the porch, we would be blocking entrance. If we have to leave a space the car would then over hang into the path behind.

Thanks, I will try park it at an angle so I can follow the arc and see how that works out.

T3RRY

bigisi wrote: »

Take that tiny bit of fence out and give yourself the extra space to swing.

The kerb behind that fence is still a full height kerb, the council refused to touch it as it crosses boundaries and cutting it would have left a tip hazard on the other side so the fence is there to protect and mark the drop.

I agree, without it the swing would be easier.

Aylesbury_Duck

T3RRY wrote: »

We would, but what that picture and the other one don't show is that there is a porch (0.89cm outwards) so the front of the car goes in between the fence and the porch, we would be blocking entrance. If we have to leave a space the car would then over hang into the path behind.

This is one of the reasons why some councils won't entertain conversion of front gardens to driveways unless there is a minimum depth of garden, because often there simply isn't enough room to accommodate cars practically and safely and pavements get blocked. If you get a longer car, does that mean it won't fit and the end of it will overhang into the turning space?

You elected to create a driveway knowing the dimensions available and the protruding porch. It's not anyone else's problem if by using your drive you block your own light or access to your porch, have to remove a bit of fence or have to walk three sides of the car to get into the house. It looks to me as if you've created a less than completely practical driveway which only works if you park a small car in an optimal fashion and if the end of the street is empty. With a neighbour seemingly doing nothing illegal, unsafe or in contravention of the HC but creating inconvenience to you, you will just have to work around it.

Fosterdog

Remove the small bit of your own fence which is obstructing you, park further over where you will have a better angle, or just reverse in. You really are making it way more complicated and difficult than it needs to be. I drive in and out of tighter spaces than that every day and quite often in a work van that has no rear window and no parking sensors as well as being bigger than your car, and I've only been driving a year and am nowhere near an advanced driver. The amount of room you have is an awful lot more than an awful lot of people manage with. It's more than I'm left with if I'm the last one home in my street, whoever is the last to park gets the awkward space that makes your space look like a whole car park in comparison, but we all manage it (except one neighbour who is really bad at parking)

Personally I would drive forward into the street, use the ample space behind and to the sides of the parked car to do a three point turn (sorry, turn in the road using forward and reverse gears) then reverse into the space at roughly a 45 degree angle before swinging it around to the full 90 degrees once clear of the neighbours car. Worst case the only bit that may be in the way is the fence but it seems like a pointless bit of fence anyway and I can't understand why you would have put it there in the first place, it is causing just as much of an obstruction as the car is.

mistertea

OP, get as many neighbours on side as you can and get all to sign a letter to the council requesting double yellows be painted around the turning head. The council may try to fob you off but keep on at them, without double yellows the turning head as it stands is not fit for purpose. Parking perpendicular to the kerb in the middle of a turning head of that size is beyond ridiculous.

fozziebeartoo

T3RRY wrote: »

I am not stubborn, this has been going on for 4 months now and we have not said a word to them - which in my opinion is being reasonable. I am looking for some advice as to the way to tackle this from folks that have had similar experience.

the definition of obstruct is - deliberately make (something) difficult, hinder, block. The neighbour my not be fully blocking the drive, however as I mentioned anything larger than a two door hatch back can't make it out (we are planing on getting a family estate). There is a pouch on the right and a fence on the left of the picture that prevent us from turning until we have passed the kerb.

currently we do manage to wiggle out with 4 moves, however why should we do that when there are plenty of bays that are no more than 5 meters from where they are parked now. I understand if there is no parking at all or the gap left by others is small for their big car however we get times when three spaces are free but they still insist on putting it there.

I will ignore your comment about me learning to drive, as the neighbour probably needs to learn the highway code first.

So you could park THERE then......problem solved :beer:

Cheeky_Monkey

There's nothing wrong with the turning head itself. At least there probably wasn't until the OP moved in and blocked off one end of it.

I think the OP is now experiencing a neighbour's 'tit for tat' although it's beyond me why he can't just reverse in like anyone else would do in that situation but I guess he's just being awkward for the sake of it.

Doodles

mistertea wrote: »

OP, get as many neighbours on side as you can and get all to sign a letter to the council requesting double yellows be painted around the turning head. The council may try to fob you off but keep on at them, without double yellows the turning head as it stands is not fit for purpose. Parking perpendicular to the kerb in the middle of a turning head of that size is beyond ridiculous.

I agree with this. Getting the council to put down double yellows may be the only way to solve this.

I think your neighbours are being passive aggressive. The way I see this is that if you didn't have your own driveway, then you would need to use a parking bay, yes? But the fact you don't need one of the parking bays now surely means there is one less household needing to use so that's a benefit for everyone else? Unless I am missing something?