Help me solve a parking issue

[TraLaLaaaaa]

What would you do if you had this large tarmacked area in front of your house that you want to keep open for parking on yourself but stop others from using it as a car park for near by shops? I do a bit of a swoop onto it (orange arrow on diagram) so that I can drive off it facing forward (busy road, footpath, school & nursery next door so lots of kids at certain times of the day so I don't want to be reversing off it).

Here's what I've thought of so far:
Fence - would need to apply for planning permission. If I got planning permission, I can't actually afford to put up a fence.

Planters - someone would steal them/mess them up? Would I be liable if someone tripped over them? (People also walk across it/stand chatting on it/etc. as if it were the footpath.) And if I placed them to stop others driving on, it would prevent me from driving on too.
Signs on the front of house - my house has little kerb appeal as it is, so I don't really want signs on the front of it. I also think that if people are so unthinking enough to park right up to my front door anyway, then a sign isn't going to prevent them.
Penguin bollards or similar - similar issue with the planters, if they're placed to stop others, then they stop me too. Also, would need quite a few and they're not very attractive for a residential property.

I put notes on occasionally, or talk to people if I see them parking there. I got told to fuck off recently for just mentioning that it was private property and not a car park. I think it's probably not worth it because I imagine it's a steady stream of different people, not the same people every day.

Anyone got any other ideas? I fear it might be an unsolvable issue short of completely fencing it off? I really don't mind the school parents parking there to drop off and pick up, but for some reason I can't make myself quite so zen-like about the people using it in the day time when going to the next door shops. It's not all day every day, but it's becoming more frequent due to a change next door, so I'm just pondering on it today after getting up this morning to find someone's car bumper about 6 inches away from my front door.

Can you install a pay and display meter?

Can you put up clamping signs?

Have you spoken tot he business next door?

Have one of those optical illusion paintings done in the form of a gigantic hole or an abyss.

Seriously, I think you should put a perimeter up and a big sign saying private property no parking.

Big rocks? I'd worry planters would get moved and the plants pulled up. Or, how about a set of lowish posts and chain across the top, it would be quite cheap and easy to go.

Is the area big enough for you to turn your car around on? Then you could fence most of it and just use the same entrance to go in and out.

PuppyMonkey, I did once look into one of those companies that issue parking tickets on your behalf...but I think it involved many large signs and I really want my house to look nicer than it does not worse!

I haven't talked to next door GreenTulips although I'm on good terms with them so might just mention it one day. I don't think it's there fault though and I don't see what they could do to stop their customers parking on my front, because really they're parking on my front because they're inconsiderate. It's also not only their customers, there's a few other businesses in the row.

The recent change is that the cafe has recently been taken over and renovated and now people linger there rather than just pop in for a take away sandwich. Also, they've just this week started putting tables and chairs out on their front which means their upstairs flat tenant has now started parking on mine as a matter of course but I will be telling him he can't do that when I next see him. So that's why I'm needing a bit of a rant this morning, as his car is in front of my window and a random one in front of my door!

Re clamping, I think it's illegal to clamp other people's cars even if it's on your property.

Drop down bollards strategically placed? You can attach signs to the bollards. You could also chain the area off between a couple of posts which would be much cheaper than putting a perimeter fence up.

I don't think you can have it both ways you want an easy access car park outside your house but don't want others to use it. Either make it less of a car park with fences or some such, start charging others to use it or stop having a car park outside your front door.

I think some signage is the only way people are going to get the message TBF. Might not be very pretty to look at, but neither are random cars parked on your land I suppose.

Ha, that's brilliant Soola. I think you're right that a proper fence is really the only thing that will stop people. It'll cost me £80 to apply for planning permission though, and I don't know that I'd get it? Also, I'm thinking £000s for a decent fence/gate/etc.?

I'm worried about people tripping over rocks and then suing me Disfordarkchocolate! Could they do that? But yeah, agree that planters could be spoiled. I think I'd probably need planning permission even for a low post fence, do you think? I'm tempted to apply for planning permission, just to see if it's possible.

Erm, I'm not sure TheFlis...not to turn around, but maybe with a bit of practice I'd manage it as a 7 point turn?!

I just went into the front room to have a look to see if I think I could turn in the space, and a different car was just pulling off my front. Grrrrr. I think I'm reaching tipping point of Doing Something. I actually spend most of my time in the back room, so am oblivious to a lot of it I imagine.

Is this your garden/drive?

Who owns that bit of land?

I think drop down bollards are your best bet. Is there somewhere you can pull over to lock/unlock them?

I think the cheapest option would be 3 or possibly 4 planters -one placed by the boundary to the café, at the midway point, one or two at the front boundary line, and one to the left of your car, on the boundary line to the footpath. You could maybe get small 'Private' signs to stick on the front of each planter?

www.argos.co.uk/product/2967017?&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59156%7cacid:444-797-0832%7ccid:596650041%7cagid:28594343605%7ctid:aud-641224041017:pla-186035604805%7ccrid:95889016045%7cnw:g%7crnd:4600146038024114487%7cdvc:c%7cadp:1o6%7cmt:%7cloc:9045845&gclid=CjwKCAjw98rpBRAuEiwALmo-ysl2R3G4Gdc2B5IZ-xBzP5ILJCnuMHfta0RAfXA1b1tcB05hFQfEmRoCwksQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds These are planter and sort-of fence in one.

InfiniteSheldon, but it's not a car park! It's essentially my front garden, just not a very pretty one. But you're right, I can't have that ease of access swoop in and a fenced off area. If I could afford a fence, I'd probably forgo parking on their myself.

True PuppyMonkey, if I were in my house, I wouldn't be able to see the signs, but I can see the cars parked in front of my window. Oh they're just so ugly though. My neighbour a few doors down recently put one up, I'll ask her if it's helped.

wowfudge I did spend a dull evening looking at bollards online a while ago...you can get some really quite lovely looking chrome ones...(can't afford those either though at the moment.)

Is this your property? On deeds etc?

what about painting on the ground?

So large no entry sign at the bit by the drop kerb, and Private Property No Parking written across the whole space..

Also, I have to say from your diagram, it really does not look like your front garden, but looks like public space/pavement.
If you painted a line round the edge, you could put in smaller letters Private Property along the line?

If you do go for a fence, then you could have an entryway where you swoop on and an exit space where you swoop off. A sign by both means any CF are actively driving through a gateway and on to a drive, which is different to an open space.

If you go for rocks, planters, could you just have enough space to squeeze through yourself, thus making a boundary, but levaing space you for?

Just add a chain at windscreen level, with flags on it.
You will need to remove it and put it back after each journey, but it will stop people parking in your place.

It's essentially my front garden,

Essentially or actually?

Yes, I own the land. This whole row of terraces were all shops at one point, now it's 3 shops and 4 houses. So the land in front of them was the forecourts for the shops, none has ever been fenced off, which I think is why I'd need planning permission.

Hunter, there's a few parking bays on the road in front of the terrace, I didn't mark that on the diagram...so there's one between the two dropped kerbs in front of me and next door and then there's a few more at the other end, but they're generally parked on and quite often the dropped kerb in front of the cafe is parked on too. Oh, and, just to add to the whole car park fee, the footpath between where I park my car and the dropped kerb is really quite wide and there's sometimes a car parked there too! It's terrible for parking around here, the side roads off the main road are all terraces with no drives.

I think you might be right Shodan re the planter idea and the placement of them being my best bet for now.

Do you actually own the front part? From the diagram it looks like your house goes straight on to the public street.

Xpost.

I can understand it from both points of view. You own the land so quite rightly don't want people parking on it. To others though it may just look like public pathway. I would save up for fencing. Even if it is just bollards and a chain.

Fence it and reverse on?

Fence it and pull in and do 3-point turn to face forward?

If you don't fence it people will continue to park.

Charge next-door flat guy rental?

It's actually my property taylor, it's on my deeds. I just think it's a bit of a stretch to call it a front garden, or driveway, when it's just a big expanse of tarmac. I call it 'my front', as in 'there's some other cheeky bigger parked on my front'.

steppemum you're right, it doesn't look like a front garden at all. There is an obvious line there, because it's been done at different times to the Council doing the footpaths, but yeah, I'm on the corner and my side garden wall is in line with the front of my house, so people walking up the side road will often cut across my front rather than follow the actual footpath round, if you see what I mean. I've only had a car for a few years, and where I park it does stop that happening now, But when I first moved in, people would just walk right in front of my front room window to get to the newsagent's further down the terrace.