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Original poster

It’s a parking one…

238 replies

MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 06:01

Builders have blocked off 6 free parking areas on our road with bollards. This is a public road and those spaces are used by the residents because not everyone has a drive.

There has been a derelict house on the road for ages. One of the parking spaces is in front of this house but the other 5 aren’t. The house has been sold recently (no idea who to) and they have builders in. These builders have put bollards (last week) and now traffic lights on to block off these spaces.

They have also left these bollards and traffic lights in place over the weekend when they aren’t doing any work.

Are they allowed to do this on a public road? If they’ve got traffic lights, have they got the council involved, or can anyone put up traffic lights? Who do we complain to?

OP posts:
NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 14:15

I haven’t read all the replies, just OP’s which seem to be responding to ones that think the builders are being unreasonable.

OP, the way to go is this:

Someone has a word with the builders and points out that the spaces are needed for resident parking. Say that you (the other residents) understand that it’s necessary from time to time to park vehicles outside the property, but they can’t reserve the spaces with cones. Insist that the spaces go back to “first come first served” basis (which includes you accepting that the builders may get there first some days) but say that you will try to avoid the two right outside unless nothing else is available within reasonable distance. Offer to communicate with them in an ongoing basis to see if a mutual solution can be found when they are in particular need- tell them which car belongs to which house so they can knock and politely ask you to move if eg a massive delivery is coming.

if they continue to put cones out after that just move them and park in the spaces.

NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 14:16

Oops, I meant “ the builders are being UN reasonable” in my first line.

Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 15:54

SirChenjins · 27/03/2023 13:57

Yes it’s illegal - and it’s the subject of many other parking threads on here where posters complain about the neighbours blocking spaces with cones - and everyone always sides with the poster!

Funny how certain posters have now gone quiet 🤫

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Driving & parking
BitOutOfPractice · 27/03/2023 16:03

MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 13:01

Once Cadent have finished their approved works, we will be moving all the builders cones into the garden of the house in question. Once we’ve photographed them and reported them to the authorities.

You really have got too much time on your hands. You really are so over invested. Yes it’s annoying. But please don’t be that person.

BitOutOfPractice · 27/03/2023 16:07

I dunno op, maybe those certain other posters, including me, have been out / looking after kids / working / sorting their sock drawer and not spending the day frothing about this. 🤔

NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 16:10

MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 13:01

Once Cadent have finished their approved works, we will be moving all the builders cones into the garden of the house in question. Once we’ve photographed them and reported them to the authorities.

Maybe just have a chat with them first? Fair enough move them after that if they still put them out.

loislovesstewie · 27/03/2023 16:17

I've gone quiet because quite frankly I wouldn't have gone to the lengths that you and your neighbours have. I wouldn't have got my knickers in a twist because I know that I need to take up more than 1 parking space on occasion, like today, and my neighbours know that I won't give them grief when they need to. There is a bit of give and take between us. I tell them nicely if I am doing work and they all say 'OK Lois, don't worry, we did it last year, no problem'. We understand that we will try to be considerate but sometimes one or other might be put out for a while. Swings and roundabouts. When my husband died they couldn't have been more helpful and considerate and I remember that.

Cowsontheloose · 27/03/2023 16:26

If you take a risk of living in a house without a drive, then you take a risk of not being able to park. No one owns the spaces. It's a public road.
Deal with the short term chaos and hopefully meet your new neighbours soon

Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 16:34

BitOutOfPractice · 27/03/2023 16:07

I dunno op, maybe those certain other posters, including me, have been out / looking after kids / working / sorting their sock drawer and not spending the day frothing about this. 🤔

From someone who has posted often on a thread about a parking situation that doesn’t directly concern you.

OP posts:
Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 16:37

loislovesstewie · 27/03/2023 16:17

I've gone quiet because quite frankly I wouldn't have gone to the lengths that you and your neighbours have. I wouldn't have got my knickers in a twist because I know that I need to take up more than 1 parking space on occasion, like today, and my neighbours know that I won't give them grief when they need to. There is a bit of give and take between us. I tell them nicely if I am doing work and they all say 'OK Lois, don't worry, we did it last year, no problem'. We understand that we will try to be considerate but sometimes one or other might be put out for a while. Swings and roundabouts. When my husband died they couldn't have been more helpful and considerate and I remember that.

So the lengths we have gone to between us (the neighbours) are:

Ive posted on a website asking for advice and had a few helpful responses (most of the responses seem to be from people who just like to spend their days bitching on mumsnet)

Ive checked a website that one of the helpful posters recommended.

My (retired) neighbour phoned the council for advice.

Im very sorry that the council advice is different from what you think it should be but the law is the law.

OP posts:
loislovesstewie · 27/03/2023 16:42

And as I said, I would not have bothered about it. I mean it's hardly the crime of the century.

Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 16:44

loislovesstewie · 27/03/2023 16:42

And as I said, I would not have bothered about it. I mean it's hardly the crime of the century.

So not bothered that you feel the need to keep posting about how not bothered you are?

OP posts:
withthehammer · 27/03/2023 16:45

Why would you do that if you could potentially get things on an amicable footing? Maybe the new neighbours are inconsiderate wankers or maybe it's a developer with plans to flip it, or maybe they're nice people who have no idea what their builders are doing and would want to find a way to keep their new neighbours happy.

*Note - your estimate of a couple of months might be optimistic. Ours took 2.5 years.

I suggested this earlier, but you might have skipped over it in favour of taking an aggressive stance:

Why not stop round when the builders are there and politely say that if they want those spots reserved, they need to apply for a proper parking suspension? Just tell them that a lot of residents rely on these spaces for parking and if you don't have an official suspension, people are likely to move the cones. It's easy enough to say that firmly but politely. I'm in London and the councils do that all the time for building works. They will get some spaces, possibly for the duration of the building works, but they're unlikely to get six. Everyone's going to have to compromise, unfortunately. And, as I pointed out earlier, turning a derelict house on your road into a non-derelict house is ultimately good for your property values.

Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 16:51

withthehammer · 27/03/2023 16:45

Why would you do that if you could potentially get things on an amicable footing? Maybe the new neighbours are inconsiderate wankers or maybe it's a developer with plans to flip it, or maybe they're nice people who have no idea what their builders are doing and would want to find a way to keep their new neighbours happy.

*Note - your estimate of a couple of months might be optimistic. Ours took 2.5 years.

I suggested this earlier, but you might have skipped over it in favour of taking an aggressive stance:

Why not stop round when the builders are there and politely say that if they want those spots reserved, they need to apply for a proper parking suspension? Just tell them that a lot of residents rely on these spaces for parking and if you don't have an official suspension, people are likely to move the cones. It's easy enough to say that firmly but politely. I'm in London and the councils do that all the time for building works. They will get some spaces, possibly for the duration of the building works, but they're unlikely to get six. Everyone's going to have to compromise, unfortunately. And, as I pointed out earlier, turning a derelict house on your road into a non-derelict house is ultimately good for your property values.

I’m very sorry that I didn’t respond to your post because clearly your post should have been highlighted as it’s more important than the other posts. Are you able to explain why you are convinced that you are right?

The new owners clearly do not care about getting things off on an amicable footing with the existing residents of the area they are moving to. As others have said, they may be developers or it may be a holiday home. If it is a business then they really should be conscious that they and their contractors are not breaking the law. The council have confirmed that their actions are illegal, so we will now leave it with the council to deal with.

OP posts:
loislovesstewie · 27/03/2023 16:52

Before you commented that certain posters had gone quiet I wasn't going to bother. Now I won't. I've got to go and deal with the builders.

NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 16:55

The new owners clearly do not care about getting things off on an amicable footing with the existing residents of the area they are moving to.

for all you know the owners could have no idea what the builders are doing with cubes. You sound like you are spoiling for a fight, to be honest. Since nobody has spoken to anybody, nobody has been “clear” about anything. Just go and have a word- if you are lucky they will respond like arseholes, dig in their heels and then you get to have your fight AND the moral high ground! 😀

NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 16:55

Cones not cubes.

withthehammer · 27/03/2023 16:58

MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 16:51

I’m very sorry that I didn’t respond to your post because clearly your post should have been highlighted as it’s more important than the other posts. Are you able to explain why you are convinced that you are right?

The new owners clearly do not care about getting things off on an amicable footing with the existing residents of the area they are moving to. As others have said, they may be developers or it may be a holiday home. If it is a business then they really should be conscious that they and their contractors are not breaking the law. The council have confirmed that their actions are illegal, so we will now leave it with the council to deal with.

Show quote history

I didn't suggest it was more important or that you owed me a response. I was simply trying to make the constructive suggestion that it might be preferable, in the long run, to try to start from the position of finding an amicable rather than an on-the-offensive way to deal with this.

Now that I've read all your posts, however, I can see that approach doesn't sync with your general attitude and demeanour, so I suggest you be as confrontational as possible, OP. It will make you feel good in the long run.

MyriadOfTravels · 27/03/2023 17:00

The new owners clearly do not care about getting things off on an amicable footing with the existing residents of the area they are moving to. As others have said, they may be developers or it may be a holiday home. If it is a business then they really should be conscious that they and their contractors are not breaking the law. P

-1 the owners are nit breaking the law. The contractors/builders are.
-2 you have no idea who the owners are. Don’t make plans that they are there only to annoy you - aka holiday home or developers - you have no idea because you’ve never talked to them
-3 you are very unhappy because no one has talked to you about the works. But you can’t be bothered to go and speak to the contractors yourself. Why is that? Why is it impossible for you to politely speak to them but somehow the owner or the contractors should?

Tbh you are really looking like you are looking for a fight. Regardless of what the owner will do or could have done, you would have found a flaw - including finding it unacceptable that they would have used those p saves for the duration of the work. Because otherwise you would have move to plan B, the one you said you would have used if you had known….

Sistanotcista · 27/03/2023 17:01

user1492757084 · 27/03/2023 07:06

Can you just speak to the fellows there doing the work and find out whether they can accommodate your parking a little when they are not there? It might be safe or not?

You would think this would be the way forward. But when a neighbour started work on their property a few doors down from us, and the skip truck damaged my car driving past, they all purported not to speak a word of English.

Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 17:02

MyriadOfTravels · 27/03/2023 17:00

The new owners clearly do not care about getting things off on an amicable footing with the existing residents of the area they are moving to. As others have said, they may be developers or it may be a holiday home. If it is a business then they really should be conscious that they and their contractors are not breaking the law. P

-1 the owners are nit breaking the law. The contractors/builders are.
-2 you have no idea who the owners are. Don’t make plans that they are there only to annoy you - aka holiday home or developers - you have no idea because you’ve never talked to them
-3 you are very unhappy because no one has talked to you about the works. But you can’t be bothered to go and speak to the contractors yourself. Why is that? Why is it impossible for you to politely speak to them but somehow the owner or the contractors should?

Tbh you are really looking like you are looking for a fight. Regardless of what the owner will do or could have done, you would have found a flaw - including finding it unacceptable that they would have used those p saves for the duration of the work. Because otherwise you would have move to plan B, the one you said you would have used if you had known….

Fight? They’ve been reported to the council, on the council’s advice. You do realise that the council has rules and regulations regarding this for a reason?

OP posts:
Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 17:04

withthehammer · 27/03/2023 16:58

I didn't suggest it was more important or that you owed me a response. I was simply trying to make the constructive suggestion that it might be preferable, in the long run, to try to start from the position of finding an amicable rather than an on-the-offensive way to deal with this.

Now that I've read all your posts, however, I can see that approach doesn't sync with your general attitude and demeanour, so I suggest you be as confrontational as possible, OP. It will make you feel good in the long run.

Show quote history

You posted it twice and stated that I ignored it because I preferred to take a more aggressive stance.

I actually didn’t respond to it because I didn’t think it was a useful suggestion.

OP posts:
Original poster
MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 17:05

NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 16:55

The new owners clearly do not care about getting things off on an amicable footing with the existing residents of the area they are moving to.

for all you know the owners could have no idea what the builders are doing with cubes. You sound like you are spoiling for a fight, to be honest. Since nobody has spoken to anybody, nobody has been “clear” about anything. Just go and have a word- if you are lucky they will respond like arseholes, dig in their heels and then you get to have your fight AND the moral high ground! 😀

As per my other comment, my neighbour has reported them to the council on the council’s advice. Who do you think is likely to be the expert here, the council or you?

OP posts:
NeverApologiseNeverExplain · 27/03/2023 17:08

MegsLevante · 27/03/2023 17:02

Fight? They’ve been reported to the council, on the council’s advice. You do realise that the council has rules and regulations regarding this for a reason?

Show quote history

Nobody is saying that they will be allowed by the Council to keep putting cones out. But you could achieve your objective more easily by going over and talking about this instead of weaponising the Council. You still have that as a backup if they won’t engage. But you are clearly running your hands together in glee at the prospect of the Council sending someone round while you stand back and twitch your curtains.

You can just move cones anyway, it’s no big deal. But you do realise that they are perfectly entitled to block the spaces with vehicles, don’t you? By talking to them and seeking an amicable solution you at least have more chance of them not doing that.

newnamenewmane · 27/03/2023 17:14

@jenandberrys hear hear! I bet the house will be put up for sale shortly after renovations have taken place based on the friendly neighbours and then they will all assume that it is builder who has only bought to flip the property and make a quick buck!