Is there any way to check if a house has right of access onto a road? New house keeps putting 'poilite' notice on any cars that park on the street near their door and we are all getting fed up!

[Sheepareawesome]

It's kind of a parking one, although I am one of the parkers in this scenario!

Our village has very limited on-road parking. Our street has parking on one side only as it's not wide enough for both. Recently, as in about a year or 2 ago, a new house was built on the end of the road in an area where there was previously public amenities with no vehicle access from the street and a low wall the whole length of the side on the road. As in, there was parking along the whole side of the plot on the street along the wall.

The new house was built with a side entrance from the pavement, a front gate with parking inside the plot which has dropped kerb access, and has a front door which opens directly onto a small area running alongside the house beside the street with a low wall. The builders have put in an opening in this wall by the door, so you can walk straight in the door off the street however there is no pavement and it is historically a part of the street that is allocated to parking.

Since the house was occupied, every time someone parks there, in front of the front door but - importantly - NOT blocking their access to the door, or their side entrance, or their gate wide enough to drive their car it, the owners have been leaving a note on the cars. Every. flipping. time. It is titled 'polite note' and says please don't block the door.

The rest of us in the street think they are ridiculous, since a) the car doesn't block access to their door as you can't park too close to the wall anyway, otherwise the doors wouldn't open b) the road is designated as parking so - gasp - cars park there and c) they have 2 other accesses anyway.

They have become a bit of a joke tbh and today I lost the plot when I found another note on my car - some of the neighbours were opposite shaking their heads saying what are the homeowners playing at there is plenty of room etc etc. I had parked quite a way back, maybe with the nose only over a few inches of the gap in the all and in no way blocking any access - they could fit an elephant through the gap! I ripped up the note and threw it at their front door (not my finest moment I admit) but I am so fed up after more than a year of them thinking they have the right to stop cars parking on the street. I know the builder who did the house by reputation and I very much doubt they bothered to get the proper permission to grant pedestrian access from the side of the road and there is no kerb, dropped kerb etc that we are blocking. Surely you can't just decide to knock a hole in a wall alongside a road and then claim no parking?!

Does anyone know if there is any way of checking this? There are no 'proper' signs to say not to park there, and even when cars do they are not blocking the access anyway which is the weird bit?! Would it be in the planning on the local council? Or would it be the highways agency?

If they are in the right, then I will of course refrain from parking there although that would be a major pain in the arse.

And no I have no diagram although I might try and work something up after dinner if you're nice to me .

Oh yes I think I would definitely add a sentance about how confusing this seems to be, seeing as the approved plans show a solid wall, and offering to get in touch with the council planning department yourself and bring the plans to their attention...?

They do need a swift kick it seems. They know full well they don't have the right to access there, best to give them a broadside. Shut the fuck up with the notes, we're parking there, you don't have permission for the entrance so if you carry on, we'll kick up a fuss about it.

Is it quite a sizeable proerty, then? Going on the description and what it was before it was a house, it sounds like it may be. It's surprising how many people seem to feel entitled to more than their fair share of (or exclusive rights to) public land as they think it's 'befitting' of their larger property. Maybe even because they pay more council tax - even also that they pay more income tax, hence they were able to buy the bigger place in the first place.

If you want a larger property to use, buy as large a property as you want and use your own land. You don't 'earn' a bonus from the council/public as a reward for being well-off without actually digging into your own pockets to buy it for yourself.

All those saying wheelchair or double buggy - if this was the case, why wouldn't they use the entrance with the dropped kerb?

It's not like this gap is the only way onto the property, after all.

If the note says 'don't block the door' and you're not, then every time I got a note I'd be writing on it 'I'm not' and popping the note back through their letterbox.

I’ve read through all OP’s posts but not everyone else’s - but to me (aside from the possibility that they’ve breached their own planning permission!) it would seem that you live on an adopted road, you’re not blocking a dropped kerb, garage or driveway, so they can jog on.

As they’ve put the note back on your car, I’d be tempted to knock and ask them why they keep putting notes out when they don’t have a designated space there?

Your polite version of they don't have a legal right to insist on this sounds good, OP.
A comment "I feel bad that this is a problem to you but it is a problem to me if the only space available is that space and then I don't park there. Given that parking there is legal, I will still park there if that's all that's available." and then you might have a peaceful compromise.

I 90% bet they're nice people. Perhaps madder than box of frogs, but still basically decent.

You can bypass all this note nonsense by going straight to the planning and getting it reported and hopefully requiring them to complete the wall.

If they bought the house from a builder then would they have been aware of the plans? I don't own my own home but would the conservation compliant wall and access points not be something they would find on the plans or deeds? Surely there would be a note somewhere of the requirement to use the original stones for the walls etc?

I’d go straight to planning and if you get any more notes send them one final one saying you consider the notes a form of harassment and will pursue it if they don’t desist

Perhaps include a point in your "polite notice" that it is unhygienic in the current pandemic to be passing notes around via people's cars?

Straight to planning and report them! Utterly fed up with those who try and take advantage. I would assume if they can establish is as 'normal' they would get away with it.
Also love your diagram

I am leaning towards a letter, nicely pointing out that they don't appear to have a legal right to access and cars are parked legally so please don't keep putting notes out. And also mentioning the planning and not having a gap but not threatening them. Possibly.

Do make sure you put WITHOUT PREJUDICE on it, since they seem to be impressed by block headings. I wouldn't want to cause someone to be inconvenienced by where I'd parked, in that if they did have a big pushchair or similar to get in that opening, surely they would mention that in their pass-agg notes? If their other access gates don't have steps or similar, surely it would be easier and more pleasant to go out that way instead of out into the road with parked cars all round?

I mean, I can understand where they're coming from, wanting that gap kept clear, it's just that they don't have any legal right for it to be. Maybe they think they're being nice putting "POLITE NOTICE" and not simply saying, "LOOK STOP PARKING BY OUR EXIT IT'S REALLY ANNOYING"..?

Going by your lovely illustration, we decided you had a Smart car and they had all been dropped from a height and splatted on the road...

When the planning application for the house was under consideration, the local authority’s highways department would have been one of the consultees. If they thought that the original front door / path / drive was unsuitable for wheel chairs etc under accessibility rules etc the original plans would not have been approved. So if the access from front door to path was required / needed, it would have been addressed at that point, the external wall would show the gap for access etc.
If OP goes back to the planning portal their consultation comments (if any) should be there.
I suspect there won’t be any.
I therefore think that the access /gap is merely for convenience and to shorten the walking distance between the front door and the designated parking space / drive and to give the impression of more parking availability. ( It may well be that this access gap was considered in the early stages of the planning but was refused but the builders did it anyway and the breach hasn't been picked up)

I will head it 'polite notice' of course! And mention that I have seen they have repeatedly requested access yet when I check the planning application it shows a solid wall and no access rights. I might even direct them to the council website and suggest that since there is a gap in the wall, they have obviously altered the planning from the latest approved plans so they might want to update the council! grin Just for some extra Passive-Aggressive brownie points of course

Please do this! And if they put a note on your car again, rip it up into tiny little confetti and post it back through their letterbox.

Based on your wonderful drawing and the planning permission, I'd put money on planning being granted with 2 other access points precisely to avoid an access point directly onto a public road with no pavement.

Did Highways make any comments on the planning application.

They have plainly not complied with the planning details and now want to inconvenience others for their convenience. Unless you are preventing access (which you are not) then they can go whistle. You are legally parked.

I would put a note through their door with a copy of the agreed plan, stating that you are parked legally on a public road and not blocking access and therefore if they repeatedly put notes on your car,this will constitute harrasment (no idea if that's true!)

Also, do you have a parish council - should be somebody responsible for roads who might have a quiet word with them)

Placemarking in passive aggressive awe 😆