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Parking drama on the street Whatsapp Group

90 replies

NailyDale · 19/09/2023 04:37

Mrs Groupchat set up a Whatsapp Group for the cul-de-sac, mostly because everyone wanted to bitch about the students in Party House. Apart from the bitching, most messages are "has anyone else lost power?" and "#14 - your rabbits are out again" and also a lot of messages from Mr Construction at #9 apologising for his builders digging through the cables again.

Until a few days ago when Mrs Hedge House BLEW UP the chat with a furious "WELL THANK YOU VERY MUCH WHOEVER HAS REPORTED MY CAR TO THE COUNCIL NOW I'VE GOT A $200 FINE AND ISN'T IT NICE TO KNOW MY NEIGHBOURS ARE SPYING ON ME AND AS IF I'VE GOT $200 SPARE IN THIS FINANCIAL CLIMATE" and so on. Lots of shocked emojis and everyone sympathised, and quickly started blaming Mr Construction's tenants because they're foreign, innit. Mr Construction was there on the chat saying that his tenants are lovely and barely speak English and definitely wouldn't know how to go about reporting cars to the council, and also that he had got a fine too. As an aside, it is Mr Construction turning his house into 5 flats that has caused the parking drama. So everyone started blaming the new people at #13. The reporting happened before they moved in, so it wasn't a watertight case, but they are new to the street so we might as well blame them. And then someone wondered if it might be the blonde lady who lives up the long drive who never talks to anyone. I actually do know the blonde lady, but she once got drunk and sang country and western songs on her balcony until 3am, and her balcony is about 4m from my bedroom, so I don't mind if people want to blame her. Then Mrs Hedge House had a grumble about Mr Construction's trucks squashing the grass verge on the roundabout, and Mr Construction pointed out that the rubbish trucks do that too, but said he would put some more grass seed out over the weekend.

So, yesterday I was at a sport thing with the kids and I bumped into a family from the bottom of the cul-de-sac. They're not on the group chat. I was telling them about the drama, and Mr Sport Family said, oh yeah, I've had a couple of fines too, it's Nice Old Man who reports everyone. Well, either him or his care visitor. I hear them complaining about the parking every day when she comes over.

OMG! Nice Old Man who has a fat corgie and stands at the end of his drive in the sunshine saying hello to people!? Shocked emoji. So now I KNOW who (probably) reported everyone, but obviously it would be knobbish to say so in the group chat so I just have to SECRETLY know.

OP posts:
pleasefuckinggodno · 19/09/2023 09:41

We have a whatsapp for the private road we live on. It’s the absolute bane of my life ‘would the selfish person in silver Volkswagen please move from the corner spot on the hill - emergency services won’t be able to get past’. Comes the boring cry. Wish they’d apply spikes to wherever the f no one should park and be done with it. Yawn.

jessycake · 19/09/2023 09:41

Possibly no one got reported & enforcement randomly came round , or a car did get reported and they sent round enforcement officers who then fine anyone breaking the law . It happened on our estate once .

dullandgrey · 19/09/2023 09:45

Ours is rather nice if I'm being honest! It's mostly neighbors asking if anyone would like their clear out things they've just found in the attic or giving away plants Grin

Sturnidae · 19/09/2023 09:47

This is both brilliant and awful! Keep updating 😂

I can just imagine the drama if we had one on our cul-de-sac. 8 houses, two young families where the Dads both grew up in those houses (mine included) and the rest have been here almost forever (barring No 6 who moved in ~10 years ago so she's new and oh so scandalous for moving her new man in years after her husband died!).

No 8 is a serial complainer and thinks he knows everything. Doesn't like single women, forriners, children, cars, cats, most things really. Fine with my dog though.
No 4 is a town Councillor and is the mayor sometimes and is lovely.
No 5 is a gossip, she's lovely but loves to know everybody elses business. Handy though.
No 6 is 'new', having moved in ~10 years ago with her husband who died not too long afterwards and then moved her new partner in a year or so ago so that's scandalous (she's wonderful!)
We're No 7 and attached to No 8 sadly. Bought the house from MIL.

My MIL (single woman, so therefore unreasonable by default) put up with a lot of nonsense with a stare and roll of the eyes over the years until he started lining up dead flies on the shared fence because they were coming from her/our garden apparently 😂

#8 has been whining about the drains for 30 years now, ours drains into his which goes to the street. He dragged my MIL round years ago to see "faeces" coming up his kitchen drain, it was white fat he was draining into his sink. He wasn't convinced and kept badgering until MIL told him that if his shit looked like that he needed to speak to his doctor!

My SIL and her partner lived here for 2 years before we bought the house (she was supposed to buy it, refused as she realised if she stayed long enough she'd have the right to stay and didn't think Mum would kick her out, she did). Fair enough, SIL and partner were arseholes, but No 8 next door came round with a huge conspiracy theory about the partner. Implied that he had 'contacts' and 'knew' a lot about the partner and his 'dodgy dealings' that he was keeping under his hat until he needed to use the information as if he is some intelligence agent. Partner is a twat and arsehole but he's not intelligent enough to manage any dodgy dealings.

No 8 also commented about SIL trashing the house with "How could she do that to her father?", a man who lived in the house that was owned outright and paid for solely by MIL very temporarily 20 years ago. He won't come round to talk to me because god forbid he talk to a woman about house stuff.

We put in planning permission for an extension recently and he's complained about the drains on our application, claiming that the water company is involved (they are not, our architect called them). This was after he came round trying to vaguely threaten my husband about how if we don't get a whole new drain not connected to his he'll say he's not happy with the extension (which is on the other side of the house so not affecting him at all!) Along with very wrong explanations about machines that can put new pipes in without even digging up the drive apparently. No 4 is on the town planning committee, she's finding the whole thing hilarious.

We also have 'parking issues', again, all imagined/caused by No 8. Has a double/triple drive, insists only his car is allowed on that drive so his kids and wife's carers park blocking his drive and in turn causing issues for us and No 6 reversing out of ours. He tells DH off saying that No 5 Mayor will put a word in at the council about us using the verge next to the turning circle to park on occasionally (which everybody including No 5 uses to park on occasionally).

He also complained/informed DH about the Dodgy Forriner who was scoping out my house. It was my [foreign - brown] Dad here at my request whilst I was at home.

We're not allowed to make noise after 8pm as they're in bed. My kids don't go to bed until 9pm. I've been lying next to my sleeping daughter at midnight before and he's been banging on the walls because she's knocked her knee against the wall as she's rolled over in her sleep.

This is cathartic.

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 19/09/2023 09:50

Throwncrumbs · 19/09/2023 05:52

How come everyone’s got nice names? We have The Clampetts across the road, Dickhead and Fishwife next door, Revolving Door(never ending ‘new blokes’ living with her) The Lovely Girls (other side, new neighbours) and 3 doors away bloke who does cars up in the street is called No Job(never had a proper job in 20 years) most of them are nice apart from the Dickhead couple though

Love it!

We do need diagrams, though.

moozles · 19/09/2023 09:59

Please can you do a daily update, I enjoyed your post!

pinkysmum · 19/09/2023 10:00

Great post.
We have "Mr Weirdo" next door (he's actually quite nice but the name has stuck now - so called because we caught him nude sunbathing in his garden which one of our bedrooms overlooks).
My mum's street also has the "Clampetts" and "the Newlyweds" (who have probably been married about 40 years now!)
In our old street the people across the road were called "Mr and Mrs Ugly".

I do sometimes wonder what people call us...I shudder to think.😀

Cockmigrant · 19/09/2023 10:19

Are people parking illegally? Must be annoying for the carers if they can't park anywhere near the man's house.
If Mrs Hedge House had parked correctly she wouldn't have had to pay a fine.

I've only got names for two neighbours:
"Lord and Lady Muck"
and
"Mad Chihuahua Mum" (but she needs a better name than that because that makes her sound quite nice and she's actually awful)

Trickytimer · 19/09/2023 10:29

partypompoms · 19/09/2023 04:58

Everyone should post in this format

I so agree! Loved it !

you have the starting of a book right there OP!😂

Chewbecca · 19/09/2023 10:31

I too am wondering what we might be called. Miserable corner house woman? Weird kid couple?

We have a fella whose name we just cannot remember so he is known as John/Dave/Bob/whatever.

sunshinesupermum · 19/09/2023 10:37

In the street I used to live in one neighbour and I changed the name of our mutual knobhead neighbour to Fuckhurst...

sleepwouldbenice · 19/09/2023 10:37

Love your names for people!
We just have the skanks ( for the ones everyone hates from a parking dispute that swear lots) and the new neighbours/ new new neighbours/ new new new neighbours as I am rubbish with names!

SirChenjins · 19/09/2023 11:03

The most fascinating thing to have happened in our street was the swinging - but the 2 couples had a big falling out, so it's stopped. That was a good few years ago now and since then our WhatsApp has been very boring - 'anyone got room in their blue bin?', 'we're getting a new puppy!', 'can anyone use this lampshade' type stuff. I feel we need a bit more excitement really.

GreenMonty · 19/09/2023 11:12

I'm overinvested in the safety of #14's rabbits

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 19/09/2023 11:13

Chewbecca · 19/09/2023 10:31

I too am wondering what we might be called. Miserable corner house woman? Weird kid couple?

We have a fella whose name we just cannot remember so he is known as John/Dave/Bob/whatever.

Lol to Miserable Corner House Woman. That's probably close to what they call me, which I assume is Football Stabbing Bitch (let's just say I don't appreciate balls smashing my garden plants)

fiddlesticksandotherwords · 19/09/2023 11:28

We have had some odd neighbours over the years. The Gruesome Twosome, Mr PressureWasher, GT, the ASBOs, Hairy Dog Woman and Mr Happy.

MerelyPlaying · 19/09/2023 11:31

@Sturnidae your MIL sounds amazing!

we don’t have a WhatsApp Group on my cul-de-sac, so I’m very envious. I do have a lovely and incredibly nosy neighbour though, who knows everything that’s going on. Apparently I’m very boring as I have no drama!

I think I bought my house from Dickhead and Fishwife, they caused a lot of disturbance. We have husband-ran-away (literally ran off with a running club member). She’s had a lot of visits from someone with a plumbing van, and Nosy and I have concluded that he’s servicing more than her boiler! Everyone else is rather dull, which is really nice.

Dymaxion · 19/09/2023 14:30

@Sturnidae until he started lining up dead flies on the shared fence because they were coming from her/our garden apparently

That really made me laugh ! what happened if there was a slight breeze, did he attach them with glue ? Grin

Sturnidae · 19/09/2023 22:19

@MerelyPlaying she has her moments! We're both stubborn as mules and have had our disagreements before, but she's not bad and takes no nonsense from no8!

@Dymaxion i have no clue but I've often imagined him pottering along the fence with a little tube of gorilla glue and the offending flies 🤣

LunaNorth · 19/09/2023 22:38

We’re the Crazy Dog People.

Mind you, we’re on the same street as Joseph Fritzel, Action Man, Howard and Hilda and the Party Animals, so it could be worse.

MoiraRosesBaybay · 19/09/2023 22:45

Why are the council towing her car and moreover why are they fining her in dollars?

DinnaeFashYersel · 19/09/2023 22:53

I can't think of anything worse than a street WhatsApp group.

Shudder.

Bellyblueboy · 19/09/2023 22:58

My cul de sac WhatsApp drama is dog poo.

and I know who it is! But I will never tell😂

WellPlaced · 19/09/2023 22:59

We have one, there’s only 3 of us in it.
I could just open the window and shout really

Melony75 · 19/09/2023 23:16

Your mistakes were, as well as a difficult read; the story is set in England, innit, yet the currency is dollars and the shocked emoji was typed rather than an emoji, and by doing your research, you should know a diagram is required on a parking thread.
A bit more work to do I think but not bad.

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