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AIBU?

Parking on my Drive

120 replies

Granitetopping · 08/01/2013 23:28

I own a house with a drive which is a single track - just wide enough for one car. My next door neighbour doesn't have a drive but she does have a car. She regularly parks on my drive when there are no more spaces on the road. I have asked her many many times not to park on my property - which is clearly marked as a private drive.

She is a single parent with a young child and I sometimes feel that I am bullying her when I ask her to move her car. I get so fed up with contantly banging on her door. She always apologies and moves her car - but I would like to formally warn her not to park again with a strongly worded letter from my solicitor because the thought of driving home each night and wondering if she is parked there again is slowly driving me mad.

AIBU to threaten her with a letter- or should I be more charitable?

OP posts:
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UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 08/01/2013 23:32

YANBU but keep the tone formal rather than aggressive. Maybe start with a letter just from you first, and if it happens again go down the legal route.

Failing that just get gates that close.

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Lueji · 08/01/2013 23:36

Have you actually asked her not to park there anymore?
And explained that it is becoming really annoying?

Even having a young child, I'm sure they can walk a bit to get home.

If you can't do it face to face, then by letter.

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starmaker7 · 08/01/2013 23:39

YANBU get a sign saying unauthorised vehicles will be clamped ,see if she stops then ;0)

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DeepRedBetty · 08/01/2013 23:40

Oooh a parking thread!

Seriously, just to clarify, if she parks is she causing an obstruction? Can you/your visitors actually get past her or not? Because if she is, you have to stop it so that no precedent is being set, even if she is a nice person who is a single parent with no other options.

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PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 23:41

Do you have a fence? Does she need to climb over a fence to get home after parking on your property?

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ShellyBoobs · 08/01/2013 23:42

Can you put a chain across your drive maybe?

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PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 23:42

Can you get her towed?

It cost hundred of pounds and is a massive inconvenience to get a car out of a car pound.

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feetlkeblocksofice · 08/01/2013 23:43

Do you have a car Granitetopping? Is it possible that you use those parking bollards that go up and down with only a key that you have?

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PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 23:45

Or park her IN, ie on the road outside your house?

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WhereYouLeftIt · 08/01/2013 23:47

"I have asked her many many times not to park on my property - which is clearly marked as a private drive."
But she does it again? And again? Shock I really don't see any need for you to be charitable here, she is taking the piss.

Oh, and you are not bullying her. The fact that you feel as if you are suggests that her skill in manipulation is as well-developed as her sense of entitlement.

Is the drive long enough to park behind her? And block her in? And refuse to move when she needs to use the car again? Because if she is happy to ignore your repeated requests, I really don't see a letter, even one from a solicitor, making any impact.

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MrsPoglesWood · 08/01/2013 23:56

Just get a chain and a padlock that goes across your drive. A 2m length of chain costs about £7.00 in Wickes and a padlock probably will cost about £10.00. Easily solved. You've told her, she's ignored you so now you need to prevent her from doing it.

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HenryCrun · 09/01/2013 00:01

I understand the need here not to poison neighbourly relations and end up embroiled in some long, bitter and unnecessarily personal dispute.

It sounds like you've made repeated requests but haven't actually threatened anything yet - so I do think you need to warn your neighbour, firmly and without malice, that you will have to take some kind of definitive action if she persists in parking there, because she is causing an obstruction by doing so. If the parking continues after the warning, then you have the go-ahead to get a chain and a padlock/install bollards/contact a solicitor/do whatever you wish to do.

Think of it as one of those awful long drawn-out HR grievance processes.

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timidviper · 09/01/2013 00:04

Henry has just said exactly what I was going to.
Tell her calmly and politely that it is an inconvenience and you will be forced to take action if it happens again

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YDdraigGoch · 09/01/2013 00:06

Oh block her in a few times just for the fun of seeing her having to come and ask you to move your car. Then put a chain or gates across the drive.

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Boomerwang · 09/01/2013 00:08

We've had loads of these threads. The best answer exists on all of them. Ask her to stop, and if that doesn't work, put up a chain as your cheapest option. If you'd like to, get a gate or a bollard.

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Unacceptable · 09/01/2013 00:08

YANBU

Have you made it totally, unmistakably, completely clear that the driveway is part of your property.

Some people aren't too sharp

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Boomerwang · 09/01/2013 00:16

Oh god sorry excuse my blunt and crap post. I've had a few drinks and I thought I was seeing another wail thread.

Since I can't edit my post, I'd like to say instead that if you really like her or are afraid of confrontation, just put up a blockage of some kind (although I entirely agree that it's wrong that you should have to mess with your driveway because of someone else)

If you are a brusque sort (read: nostril flaring, feather spitting, ground clawing) type such as myself, sound her out and slap a solicitor's letter in her mush after taking pictures of her parked on your drive.

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WhereYouLeftIt · 09/01/2013 00:19

"Some people aren't too sharp"
And others are sharp enough to cut themselves. They know that most people don't like to be impolite, and use that politeness as a tool to get their own way. OP's neighbour "always apologies and moves her car" - and always does it again regardless.

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CatPussRoastingOnAnOpenFire · 09/01/2013 00:21

I agree with the chain. This is YOUR drive. Not hers!

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Narked · 09/01/2013 00:28

I would not send a solicitor's letter if I could avoid it. I think you need to declare that kind of thing if you sell the house in the future. I would get a chain and padlock and, if she does it before then, block her in and don't answer the door for a while.

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Reaa · 09/01/2013 00:33

Can u share the drive? Can she pay you rent for part sharing it?
Nope (im too tired to keep being nice) it sounds like she taking the piss.....get a chain across it

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Catchingmockingbirds · 09/01/2013 01:01

Have you asked her why she keeps parking on your drive? If so, what was her reply?

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NoMoreMarbles · 09/01/2013 01:19

I would be tempted to park across the drive so she can't get out...or park with your car blocking her front door...

Alternatively, report her to the parking police people in your area and the council and then see a solicitor to send a letter threatening legal action etc

Or...write your own one saying failure to respond to this letter is agreement by silence and you therefore agree to handing over your car keys...on my property=belongs to me Grin

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SantasENormaSnob · 09/01/2013 06:04

Oh just get the stupid cow towed.

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TheSkiingGardener · 09/01/2013 06:19

Either get a clamping company to put a sign on your drive, then get her clamped next time she parks there, or get a chain/bollard.

Or block her in and go away for the weekend.

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