Free Parking for Gatwick in Horley?

FlaatusGoat

Just curious if anyone has tried parking up for a week in Horley and walked or taken a local connection to the Airport. Seems like a no brainer way to save a lot of money on airport parking, especially as a lone traveller. Obviously with kids and multiple bags in tow it's probably more trouble than its worth.

Just a thought?

CKhalvashi

As someone who lives close to another airport, please don't. I'm sure many will rent their driveway at a low cost to you.

A friend of mom's the other week was shouted at for parking outside her house (when he'd been given full permission to) by a neighbour because of people doing exactly this. I was equally complained at when I changed my car for parking on her driveway, despite having a key to the house (I was actually going to pick up a cake, she wasn't in).

prowla

That should add an hour or so to your journey.

zagfles

I wouldn't park on a residential street near an airport, even if there were no restrictions, as above you get the sort of people who think they own the road or the space outside their house, and if you park there for a week or two they may resort to criminal damage or petty stuff like letting the tyres down. Eg see this tripadvisor thread:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187051-i1215-k9596865-Parking_on_the_street_near_Gatwick_Airport-Crawley_West_Sussex_England.html

Maybe a free public carpark, or a non residential street etc, but again, may be security issues.

unforeseen

Not always a good idea
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/ever-parked-street-near-liverpool-14108508.amp

Westin

As a local resident living near Gatwick also echo the words of CKhalvashi as respectful ask that you don’t leave your car parked on residential streets whilst on holiday.

Surrey County Council have now put parking restrictions and double yellow lines on many of the local roads around the Horley town centre to stop airport parkers. It solved the problem but has also given those local to the area issues when they wish to visit local shops and services or take the train from the station. 

The pandemic seem to thankfully stop most of the rogue parking firms who offered ‘cheap’ valet holiday parking then left cars on the Crawley Industrial site, on playing field car parks, on side access roads, residential streets or just local fields. 

A good alternative to the airport long stay, or Purple Parking would be https://www.aph.com/ who have a large secure car park just past the airport near Copthorne.

[Deleted User]

Yep.
I've been doing it for decades.
Horley for Gatwick, Hounslow for Heathrow.
The secret is to park well away from the airport and get either a taxi/bus/train back in.
Choose a quiet residential street that's near enough to shops etc where an unfamiliar car won't be noticed.
Don't be seen with luggage - I normally drop the missus off at the airport with our carry-on bags ( we haven't checked a bag in 30 years ) and she heads off for a drink while I do the business.
You have just as much right to park on a public road as anyone else - it's what your road tax is for.
I've saved thousands in rip-off airport parking charges and never had a single issue.
It's requires a small degree of faff but the rewards are worth it.
Ultra MSE-ing !😅👍

TELLIT01

I understand that it's annoying for the people who live on the road where cars are parked, but there is nothing illegal in doing so.  As long as the car is insured and has MOT if required, the local residents have no more legal right to park there than anybody else.  In fact we had a similar situation outside our neighbour's house where an unknown car (unknown to me) was left for several days.  I asked the neighbour if they knew anything about as I was concerned it may have been stolen and dumped.  It turned out it was his son's car, left there while he was on holiday and Dad had taken him to the airport.

sammynunes

There is (unless it's changed) unrestricted parking on Station Approach in Horley. Haven't been there for a couple of years but it was generally easy to get a space in the evening or weekends.

Faygate station car park (free) is another good alternative.

CKhalvashi

TELLIT01 said:

I understand that it's annoying for the people who live on the road where cars are parked, but there is nothing illegal in doing so.  As long as the car is insured and has MOT if required, the local residents have no more legal right to park there than anybody else.  In fact we had a similar situation outside our neighbour's house where an unknown car (unknown to me) was left for several days.  I asked the neighbour if they knew anything about as I was concerned it may have been stolen and dumped.  It turned out it was his son's car, left there while he was on holiday and Dad had taken him to the airport.

Illegal or not, in most cases it's about respect for others.

I shouldn't have to face frequent abuse when going to see anyone in the community I live because of a minority of airport parkers.

Equally I didn't have my bins collected last week due to an airport parker blocking the road (they were seen taking suitcases from their car, we have nowhere to put our bins at the front of the house so if the lorry can't get to the back we lose services we pay for).

[Deleted User]

We had a rash of commercial vehicles parking around here a few years ago. Often people who lived here had trouble parking. The bigger vans went up on the kerb and blocked part of the pavement.

The ones on the yellow lines got a few tickets, but it was only when they started finding their tyres had been deflated overnight that they stopped.