School Traffic Parking on Private Road

fisherjim

Luroc said:

Can I ask why you wouldn’t go down the PPC route?

CM has already explained this, however what will you do for example if you have a house party and all your guests get PCN's from the PPC?

Fruitcake

Luroc said:

@daveyjp the road has certainly been constructed to adoptable standards. The developer has chosen not to pursue a Section 38 agreement for which they would have had to pay the local council thousands of pounds in order for them to adopt the road.

Can I ask why you wouldn’t go down the PPC route?

The PPC will target residents on a daily basis for the slightest reason. You only need to look at the hundred or so requests for help a day we get on this forum, and the number of own space/residential posts we get where residents end up in court. Self ticketing is an incentive for someone to earn money at the detriment of their neighbours. Do not underestimate the greed of some people.

D_P_Dance

The PPC will target residents on a daily basis for the slightest reason

Not only residents,  postmen, delivery drivers, fire engines, etc., et., etc.,

daveyjp

Luroc said:

@daveyjp the road has certainly been constructed to adoptable standards. The developer has chosen not to pursue a Section 38 agreement for which they would have had to pay the local council thousands of pounds in order for them to adopt the road.

Can I ask why you wouldn’t go down the PPC route?

The developer doesn't pay the s38 cost, it is ultimately paid for by the first buyers of the property.

If the road is constructed to adoptable why not have a whip round of residents and get it adopted?

However, I know in my area a Council won't adopt a block paved surface road, the developer may have changed the specification after making the decision not to go for adoption and major works may be required.

PPC will only bring grief, they make money by ticketing anything which isn't moving.  That includes your friends and family.

Luroc

@fisherjimit’s for that reason that it just wouldn’t be practical. We had several cars round on Sunday for a big family celebration and they would have all been ticketed. Our neighbours obviously also have visitors and they would be targeted too.

@Fruitcake I’m just interested to know of the experiences have had with these firms. E.g is it simply because they wouldn’t want to be charged themselves or have they had other negative experiences.

My aim is not to make money from other cash-strapped parents, times are hard enough for most people at the minute anyway. I just want people to stop parking on a road which is going to require our hard-earned money to pay for to maintain sooner rather than later if it carries on.

Luroc

@daveyjp from speaking to the Highways department of the local council, if the developer wanted to council to adopt the road, they would have incurred the fee.

According to planning documents on the council website the construction material is not an acceptable surface and therefore it wouldn’t be considered for adoption anyway. Even if it was, it would cost between £5000 - £8000 according to the pricing list.

fisherjim

Luroc said:

I just want people to stop parking on a road which is going to require our hard-earned money to pay for to maintain sooner rather than later if it carries on.

Then you have very few options and surely the inconvenience of a few bollards or cones is a small price to pay.

Thinks! Sir Dance hasn't attended yet with this "Caltrop" advice

Fruitcake

Luroc said:

@fisherjimit’s for that reason that it just wouldn’t be practical. We had several cars round on Sunday for a big family celebration and they would have all been ticketed. Our neighbours obviously also have visitors and they would be targeted too.

@Fruitcake I’m just interested to know of the experiences have had with these firms. E.g is it simply because they wouldn’t want to be charged themselves or have they had other negative experiences.

My aim is not to make money from other cash-strapped parents, times are hard enough for most people at the minute anyway. I just want people to stop parking on a road which is going to require our hard-earned money to pay for to maintain sooner rather than later if it carries on.

The private parking industry is completely unregulated at the moment. Hopefully that will change soon.
MPs in open parliament have called these parking companies rogues, scammers, and bloodsuckers. We regularly see "own space" posts on this forum where a PPC has been brought in then run riot and ticketed genuine residents, irrespective of whether the motorists own or rent their parking space.
Many end up in court. If that happens you play judge bingo. Not every resident wins their court case.


Under certain circumstances it is legal to move a vehicle if it is blocking you in on your property and preventing you from leaving to, say, go to work or a medical appointment. I believe you are permitted to cause minor damage if necessary, such as dragging the vehicle out the way or breaking a side window so you can release the handbrake.
It would depend on how confrontational you are prepared to be. I would get legal advice on this whether you need to do it or not.

Whether or not you can legally block another car in I don't know, but if was me and the property was mine, I would do it then worry about the police being called later.
You can't lock gates or bollards to prevent a vehicle from leaving unless they were already present before hand.

You could install fold down bollards at the entrance to the road or your driveway, but that won't stop selfish people parking in front of them.

I would suggest you try some or all of the following, making sure you get as many of the local residents affected as possible involved. Ten separate complaints will have more effect then one complaint with ten signatures.

Complain to your MP.

See if there is a local community bobby or PCSO who could come and talk to the motorists at the relevant times to explain the law and the consequences to them.

Get everyone in the street to write to the head teachers of the local schools and school governors explaining the problems, the legal situation, and instances of abuse.

State that if the problem is not resolved, the registration numbers of offending vehicles will be noted and the registered keeper details obtained from the DVLA.
There is a paper form that landowners can use to do this, (Form V888/3). Information about how to do this can be found here.

Request information about a vehicle or its registered keeper from DVLA - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Information about another vehicle or its registered keeper

You can ask for details of another vehicle’s registered keeper. You’ll need a ‘reasonable cause’, for example:
finding out who was responsible for an accident
tracing the registered keeper of an abandoned vehicle
tracing the registered keeper of a vehicle parked on private land
giving out parking tickets
giving out trespass charge notices

Point out that legal action for trespass may be taken against these motorists, and ask the school to warn parents who abuse your private property by parking there. Also point out that you are legally permitted to smash a window if you need to move a vehicle. (Quote any relevant law you can find)

Make a list of vehicle VRMs with dates and photographic evidence, then obtain offending vehicle keeper details and write a cease and desist letter to the registered keeper, warning them that a claim for trespass will be made against them if they continue.

If they persist, send a letter before claim. I believe the CAB has information on how to do this.

If they persist, issue a court claim. I believe there is no cost up to this point, only if you proceed with the claim.

Record video of any verbal or physical abuse and report it to the police. It is a crime. Report it to the school as well.
Whilst you may want to set up a private Facebook help group, do not share images on social media to which the public have access.

Luroc

@Fruitcake thank you so much for your help and advice - it must have taken a while to write. It’s much appreciated!

I wasn’t aware that I could obtain details of the registered keeper of a car. Hopefully a letter would serve as a deterrent and this is as far as it would need to go without needing to cost either of us any money 🤞

Thank you to all who have commented, you’ve been enormously helpful.

Trainerman

I may have got the wrong idea, but could you not use your and other residents cars to block across the road so no-one else could? Possibly on a rota basis? Similar to bollards but stopping the parking that would then be by the bollards and blocking the road? Anyone of the residents wanting ingress/egress could be accommodated.