Oh dear! Just had visit from council officer about not having dropped kerb...

Snooze

*jobags* wrote: »

More likely to have been one of your neighbours who shopped you to the council - seeing as you were getting something "free" which they had paid through the nose for.

Yes I do work for a council and it never ceases to surprse me the information people are falling over themselves to give in order to dish the dirt about their neighbours - and the photos/videos and tape recordings people send us - sad or what? I've got loads on my desk but I don't have a video recorder or tape recorder at work and I'm !!!!!!ed if I'm bringing this stuff home - I've got a life, even if they haven't

Unlikely to be an over eager council employee - we're all too busy calculating our performance indicator returns working out how to cover the frozen posts, and get the councillors and wannabee councillors off our backs so we can provide a public service to the public - not the parasites and hangers on (local councillors, consultants, "empowerment practitioners" etc)

I work in Herts and all this is organised through Highways at the County Council - you can only use their contractor and it costs about £3K just for the crossover - I'm not excusing it or anything - it is as it is.

They tell us that the pavement has to be strengthened to support services underneath e.g drains and tree roots etc

Anyway, never under estimate the willingness or ability of a neighbour to report you for any minor infringement or concern that someone may be getting a few crumbs of the cake more than them

Good luck - it could be worse, they could threaten you with an injunction and that will cost you more than a few bollards

Ain't that the truth. :rolleyes: I've also suffered from jealous neighbours. My girlfriend at the time was a copper at the local nick and my job was with a Dutch company and involved driving a Dutch registered van both overseas and in the UK. The amount of calls the station received from my neighbours about how I was driving round illegally in a foreign registered vehicle, not paying insurance and tax was simply incredible. It's a pity have nothing better to do with their time. :mad:

Rob

epsilondraconis

Snooze wrote: »

Ain't that the truth. :rolleyes: I've also suffered from jealous neighbours. My girlfriend at the time was a copper at the local nick and my job was with a Dutch company and involved driving a Dutch registered van both overseas and in the UK. The amount of calls the station received from my neighbours about how I was driving round illegally in a foreign registered vehicle, not paying insurance and tax was simply incredible. It's a pity have nothing better to do with their time. :mad:

Rob

Yes it is disappointing how some people react.

Ja is het teleurstellend hoe sommige mensen reageren.

I thought I'd include a translation for any Dutch friends that may have found this thread when Googling as a result of the previous post. :rolleyes:

brightonman123

i feel a mass picket pof council offices coming on, checking / photographing EVERY move they make..

seems only fair- next they'll be measuring bin lids.. oh, they already do.

Riq

fimonkey wrote: »

Well here's my rant about the proliferation of front gardens into driveways.......

1. The amount of concrete now taking up front gardens instead of grass and soil is contributing to flash floods, cos the rain water has no-where to soak into and therefore runs off into drains and over flows etc.

2. When you're not using your driveway, no-one else can use it, and neither can they park outside your house blocking the driveway, Hence you've effectively taken a parking space away from someone else so you don;t have to walk a few hundred metres more to your door and you can see your precious piece of metal outside your window.

3. Concrete front gardens are ugly and are contributing to a decline in Britains wildlife.

I know I'm goinmg to ruffle a few feathers with those comments, but to back up my second point, a friend of mine lives in a flat in Muswell Hill. She HAS to park on the sorrounding roads, but this is getting harder and harder as ppl convert their front gardens to driveways. As they have a dropped kerb and white line in front of them she cannot park there, even if there is no car in the driveway. Hence the selfishness of the few has made life difficult for the majority of residents and shoppers in the area, and has subsequently had an effect on local businesses.

I know this doesn't pertain to everyone, but it is indicative of the 'I'm alright I'm looking after number one' attitude that pervades through today's society.

I also know this probably isn't the right place for this rant as it doesn't help the OP, but so what, it's a forum, and I wanted to rant and I stand by my views.

At my house we have 5 cars, so our driveway is not selfish in this respect.
The space is needed, could you imagine the ball ache of having to park 5 cars, well 4 cars (1 is a classic car so in the garage) on the street?!

But we have a front garden as well.

temba

I hate councils. They are so greedy

Badger_Lady

It may well depend on local authorities, but I have seen someone obtain permission for dropped kerbs so that they can park sideways on their "drive" in front of the house, i.e. the house is only 2 metres from the pavement and 4 metres wide.

In which case, OP, I can't see yours being a problem

MrsE_2

Generali wrote: »

A mate of mine got caught by his council (Essex somewhere) for much the same thing. It ended up costing him about £3k IIRC! It sounds like you've got a good deal.

What "caught" parking on his own drive:rolleyes:

Ellie007

As ever, all opinions gratefully received.

My concern is not that I need to pay to have the kerb put in, and I in no way expect other tax payers to contribute. I pay high enough taxes myself to know that nothing comes for free and I would expect it no other way.

My gripe is that unlike many other councils my particular borough does not issue a list of approved (note: not cowboy) contractors, which therefore does not allow me to seek three competitive quotes by reputable firms. Instead I must pay whatever charge they see fit to levy. My feeling is that there should be greater uniformity across the councils in England. Having said that, I know I am stuck with the situation so my application is in the post as I type, complete with cheque. Ho hum!

As for neighbours shopping me, it wuld sadden me greatly that we have just moved into such a neighbourhood (and made the best of efforts to make friends) so I will have to stick to the belief that the officer was merely passing for my own sanity!

Generali

MrsE wrote: »

What "caught" parking on his own drive:rolleyes:

Pretty much.

He had to pay to get the kerb dropped.

IIRC it turned into a bit of a saga - he got his BiL to do it and the council said it's not good enough despite it being done properly with the metal in the ground etc.. He got his solicitor involved and the council threatened to make him get the pavement put back as was and then get it dropped (so pay for 2 lots of work).

I don't remember all the ins and outs any more - I used to work with the bloke at Japanese Bank and we'd get a new bit of story every few days.

picnic

i would never think about 'shopping' my neighbours that dont have dropped curbs and that park on their driveways. Infact my neighbours and also their neighbours both use my drop curb to drive up on to the path and then drive along to gain access to their driveways....

should i warn them that they may be fined??????