Shared drive with neighbours - Am I not allowed to block my own half of the drive?

muffingg

Vestraun said:

You shouldn't park on a pavement, please consider people that can't just simply step of the pavement to get around. 

Please consider that there are places where you are encouraged to park half on and half off the pavement. The road I live on is one of those and there are many such across the country.

Barny1979

MoneySeeker1 said:

They haven't "justified" it. They've "explained" it. Very different word.

You both have a Right of Way over each others drives - so I'm sorry but they have a ROW over your drive (as you do over theirs).

No-one is allowed to stop on a ROW except for loading or unloading people or goods. No parking on a ROW.

Not what you want to hear - but it is the case.

It's a right of access not a ROW, they are different:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_way

muffingg

GraceD_17 said:

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who block drives, whether it's blocking someone from getting in or stopping them getting out it's selfish and inconsiderate. 

Your guests really shouldn't be parking on curbs, if they're roadside, simply ask them to move 5 metres the other way and block the lamppost. 

The road I live on is a half-on, half-off road. So cars can't park fully on the road as the road isn't wide enough to allow that. My guests would be blocking my own entrance and I don't care as they are my guests. If they were blocking the neighbours' entrance, they have a right to say something, but if the guests' car is within the boundary of my house, why do they still have a right to complain about it?

Barny1979

muffingg said:

Vestraun said:

You shouldn't park on a pavement, please consider people that can't just simply step of the pavement to get around. 

Please consider that there are places where you are encouraged to park half on and half off the pavement. The road I live on is one of those and there are many such across the country.

These are indicated though by signing and lining.

numbercruncher8

Would it just not be easier to tell your guests to park somewhere else?

I visit someone with a similar set up, except that the dropped kerb runs double length, and there is no lamp-post. I don't park on half of the dropped kerb and think it's a bit disrespectful to the neighbours. There is ample space for the neighbours car to enter/leave the drive if I parked there, but I am mindful with my car there they would have to take a tighter turn into the drive, or restricts their view when leaving.

muffingg

numbercruncher8 said:

IIRC if someone is parked across a dropped kerb you can call the traffic wardens out. I had this before at my old place. Council loved writing tickets and had a grassing hotline, someone would come along in a moped.

PCN code 27 covers parking in front of a dropped kerb. In practice though, if you owned the dropped kerb/property it provides access to, the guest could get the ticket cancelled on appeal as you have given permission.

The rules change in London, where parking on the pavement is not allowed by default (a resolution needs to be adopted to allow it). There are places where parking on pavement is seemingly doing people a favour (thin road) but then you can get a ticket.

Even if the person they are blocking in allows them to park across their drive? Surely it's only annoying the person who is getting blocked?

muffingg

oldbikebloke said:

why are you seeking to escalate this into a dispute with your neighbours? Can't you just be considerate and behave differently, or this all about you must be the "winner"?.

the law in respect of dropped kerbs says this: if a vehicle is blocking a dropped kerb (vehicle) access then the council can give it a parking ticket even if there are no visible parking restrictions (yellow lines). Hardly a practical solution to your situation.

you refer to "shared drive", but your diagram does not show a shared dive.
It shows 2 front gardens converted to off road parking, and it implies access to those gardens is via crossing the kerb and pavement, neither of which you, or your neighbour, legally own as it remains council land. But it is land over which a right of access has been granted by virtue of there being a dropped kerb. QED the access is in line with the dropped section and neither of you have written rights to "your half" since that does not exist in the first place. 

It's not about any kind of "winner" situation here. All I care about is that if my parents come to visit me, they are able to park across the front of my house. The dropped kerb doesn't extend all the way to the right of my house, which means people can park on the right half of my drive. So if someone is parked there, my parents can only park on the left half of the drive. Now logically, I would've thought they are fine to obstruct my driveway as long as their car doesn't extend beyond the boundary to the neighbours' house.

couriervanman

That picture looks to me that 
1....you could put a fence down the middle as it doesn't look like a shared driveway rather a modern house where the developers couldn't be bothered with the extra expense
or
2....The neighbour originally had a single driveway but knocked down a bit more wall to make a double driveway either way it doesn't look like a shared driveway

muffingg

SpiderLegs said:

Lots of questions around the legality of what you are doing, however I think the most relevant question is -

RobM99 said:

Reverse the situation, would you be happy?

Say you come home one evening to find your neighbours mate had parked in the same spot. Are you likely to kick off at that point or will you simply crack on and try squeeze through the remaining gap onto ‘your half’?

It is more difficult. By that I mean it'll take any capable driver an extra 5-10 seconds to get into the drive. If my neighbour parks in front of his own property's boundary, then I wouldn't say anything. I'm just unfortunate to have the lamppost and will have to pay with the extra 5-10 seconds of time. It's how some people have a tree in front of their house obstructing their satellite signal. Just one of those things that isn't anybody's fault, they just need to work around it. And working around in this case is spending those extra few seconds to park.

Stratus

I imagine when these houses were originally built they each had a front garden which has since been paved over to provide additional parking. The original drive may have been shared in order to access garages behind each house. This would explain the limited length of dropped kerb.
Living in a community involves a bit of give and take. I think a bit more giving by the OP is required here.