Would this bother anyone or am I just being petty? Neighbours walking past

So there is nothing that you can do, especially as pp said, that they’re not your allocated parking spaces.

Another tactic if they are having a long conversation on your front is to open the window or door and say ‘oh hello, did you want me?

I agree you need a slim barrier - something like the others have.

The other thing you could maybe try is doing it back to them. I am not suggesting starting a fight but if 8, 14 and 16 are close, I would get a friend to help you and do it to number 8. That is the most natural opportunity as they are on the end. You need them to be in and it be inconvenient time ideally.

if you have no suitably loud friends, send your child (if old enough, across the street whilst you stand directly outside number 8’s window and then have a very loud shouted conversation with them across the road. This will liok
less manufactured as who hasn’t done that at some point.

If No8 is reasonable, it will occur to them and it might stop. I can tell readers thinking ‘unlikely’.

If they come out and confront you, apologise and play it back to them like ‘Oh I am sorry, yes I imagine it is loud if we neighbours use this strip. Do you think we should get everyone using the bottom of the drives instead? Whatever you do avoid saying ‘but you do it to me’ as that just looks petty.

OP's title plan will prove this

It sounds like you don’t actually “own” the parking bays, just the right to park there so you can’t really do anything about it. It would be different if they were cutting across a private driveway but it sounds like the main problem is that your house has no front garden and your windows are directly on to a public street.

You're right to be annoyed, but also right to think nothing you could say would easily resolve it

What about a row of planters or flower pots with spikey leaved pants either side of the bays?

Big planters. You can get wheels for them. They’ll stop it completely. You don’t want to be putting the car right up against the house or windows for various safety reasons

good luck with them

My old house was like this & luckily I didn’t have an issue with my neighbour. However I did had some large planters along the front of the house to brighten it up more than anything. It would have stopped anyone being able to cut through between my car and house if they’d been doing this.
My house was also in a cul de sac - so like OP no issue with traffic to walk around parked cars away from the houses.

I think plant pots are the answer, put them along the wall of your house then park right up close to them so there’s no space for people to walk

Speak for yourself! I never got use to it and that as well as the all-round lack of privacy and constant bloody noise from every angle was the reason that I moved from a new build estate.

So who is walking Down that stretch?

unlikely to be opposite as no need.

unlikely to be neighbours as they lark in front of own houses.

unlikely to be random Joe Bloggs as a cul and so not passing through.

but I do agree with nice plant pots at the tip of your spaces preventing a path

I dont think a polite notice would have any effect because people in general are dumb and lazy and will take no notice. If some of your neighbours on the estate already installed some kind of mechanism to stop this access they cannot be forbdden. Or the order is not enforced. I would copy their ideas or maybe ask them where they purchased the fittings. Some of the ideas in this thread look ideal - not too imposing but designed to stop the flow of traffic.

This would annoy me too as I am very private and territorial. I live in a row of "back to front houses". The front doors (where the mail goes) is up an alley behind and a garden gate gives access onto the street. Its possible to cut through from the street via the garden into the alley. I keep mine padlocked and only open it when my gardener comes. One day my garden gate was open as I was expecting a delivery. I was amused when the cctv showed two workmen attempt to cut through my garden and be stopped by a padlocked gate. The language was explicit. They were not MY workmen so I felt no sympathy. They eventually worked out that the path continued around the houses but they would have to walk a little further. And no they dont have to walk on the road there is a pavement and a footpath.

Be mindful about anything that contains loose gravel, slate etc. The kids will take great delight in playing with that.

I wouldn’t agree put planters along under the window to total block it off……having random people walking past and having conversations would rattle my brain.

Can you just park really close up to the house so there's not space?

Make sure there is less than a person's width between the cars and the house.

When you come out of your door would you squeeze between your 2 parked cars to walk on the roadway rather than turn left past nos 10 and 8? I can see that walking past the house doors and windows is a shorter route to the pavement and I would encourage children to do that. Planters could give you some privacy and push pedestrians away from your house.

That looks like a path.

oh hang on, we had this exact question a couple of months ago?

I live in quite a rural area, there are 6 houses on our lane. Two women used to walk past and literally approach my living room window to peer in. I only realised this when I was at home off sick for 2 days.
i couldn’t understand the sheer hard necks of both of them. The next day I opened the window and asked for their addresses. When they queried it I said I wanted to look through their windows as they seemed to think it acceptable to look through mine. I also said you are incredibly nosy and rude, do it again and I’ll let my German Shepherd out to chase you off! I don’t have a GS by the way but funnily enough it never happened again! Wishing you the best of luck, some people just don’t have a clue!

Just park your car as close to the house as you can (like 10cm), then they'll have to walk round the back, which creates distance.

If you're out, it won't bother you if they do walk close.

And plenty of houses open up to the pavement so I would have thought this was a fairly normal set up.

As pp have said, planters may be an answer. I was lookiing yesterday & Aldi have some large planters/pots on offer from 7th May. Put one or 2 large ones each side of your house & then smaller ones running across the front which you can park up close to.
This will block the "easy access" route your neighbours are using as a pathway.
Although I do like the set up a pp showed with posts, chain & wooden trough planters. That could look really pretty.

I don’t get this so if neighbour at no 14 parks in the bay, they get out of the car they should not go forward but go behind the car & in between the two bays to reach their house?

And if no 16 goes for a walk rather than turning left down the street they should walk past the cars to the road & then turn left.

I used to live in a studio flat on the ground floor where my main window was right on the A5. I didn't mind people walking past my window, talking or not I soon got used to it. Heavy traffic too. But one night there was a minor car crash right outside and that was scary, felt like the building was going to fall down!