Council tree stopping me getting off driveway

emma_here

Hi 👋 😊 

I wondered if anyone can offer some advice on a recent problem! I park my large van on my driveway for the past six years and have been able
to get on and off fairly easily despite a streetlight to the left and cars parked opposite in a fairly narrow avenue.

However 😔… the council planted a tree last week to the right of my driveway and I can no longer get off the drop curb driveway if the cars are parked opposite 😣. I called the council and spoke to somebody fairly junior i guess but they were not helpful and said it was council property. What can i do? Is it likely they will move it? As i say, I literally cannot get off the drive 😡.

Joker to the left of me, joker to the right, stuck in the middle with yew 😆. Thanks in advance! Emma

user1977

You're probably expected not to be parking a large van on the driveway. Is it overhanging the pavement?

emma_here

In the picture it is a little as i needed to get something in the back doors but actually it fits perfectly on my driveway with zero overhang

user1977

Fair enough. But is the problem caused by it having a turning circle bigger than the average car? Is the driveway there with council consent?

emma_here

I mean of course it has a bigger turning circle than a car, a lot more, but what is wrong with that? I have owned the house and the van for 7 years and the dropkerb was there when i moved in. Oh god, please somebody reassure me they will see common sense

emma_here

For the love of god, i was there first 😭 

sheramber

Does that mean you drive over the grass verge to get out?

canaldumidi

It's hard to see from the photo, but I'm dubious that the tree is obstructing the dropped curb.

You are expected to access your drive via the dropped curb, not by driving over any part of the raised curb on either side of it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect that due to the limited turning circle of your van, perhaps exacerbated by parked cars opposite, you have been starting to turn your vehicle as soon as you leave your drive (rather than when you reach the road) with the result that you end up crossing the pavement and bumping down the raised curb on one side or the other?

Unfortunately that is not permitted. If that is the case, I suspect the new tree is only preventing you from undertaking this non-permissable manourver.

Were you to drive straight forward to the dropped curb and then start your turn, you would a) not hit the raised curb and b) not hit the new tree.

The solution may be to get a smaller van or one with a tighter turning circle, or to do some kind of 3 or 5 point turn onto the road.

You may find a sympathetic council official willing to get the tree moved but I wouldn't hold your breath......

molerat

The tree has done what it was supposed to do - stop you from driving over the council's grass.

Sunsaru

canaldumidi said:

It's hard to see from the photo, but I'm dubious that the tree is obstructing the dropped curb.

You are expected to access your drive via the dropped curb, not by driving over any part of the raised curb on either side of it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect that due to the limited turning circle of your van, perhaps exacerbated by parked cars opposite, you have been starting to turn your vehicle as soon as you leave your drive (rather than when you reach the road) with the result that you end up crossing the pavement and bumping down the raised curb on one side or the other?

Unfortunately that is not permitted. If that is the case, I suspect the new tree is only preventing you from undertaking this non-permissable manourver.

Were you to drive straight forward to the dropped curb and then start your turn, you would a) not hit the raised curb and b) not hit the new tree.

The solution may be to get a smaller van or one with a tighter turning circle, or to do some kind of 3 or 5 point turn onto the road.

You may find a sympathetic council official willing to get the tree moved but I wouldn't hold your breath......

^^ This.

From what I can, what used to be grass is now a bald patch where someone keeps driving over it to get out of their drive. Although I sympathise with you, you've actually been getting away with it for 7 years and now the party is over.

emma_here

Thanks - the tree is of course not obstructing the dropped kerb, the council have rules 😆 but with the cars parked opposite, i think even my estate car wouldn’t make it without going over the kerb. In reality who can actually pull off a driveway with perfection in the tightly spaced houses and roads that many people live in 🤷‍♀️. They only planted it last week so maybe they could shift i