Cones have appeared outside my house

[Beamsss]

More accurately 4 cones and a no parking sign, spead across the frontage of my house and one neighbour.

We're opposite a school and parking can be a problem, although I have no issues unless they park across my drive. The cones are set up to prevent any parking in front of the two houses. We have wide frontages, so it's 3/4 spaces blocked. There are another 5 houses that have simular issues at school times but no cones.

It looks like I'm trying to prevent any parking and I'm not. I haven't even complained (recently) about parking across the drive.

I don't know where the cones came from.

I know it seems a stupid thing to worry over, but unless you've experienced it you wouldn't believe how agressively nasty parents can be about parking outside school, and they know where I live!

Neighour is an elderly widower with dementia and live in carers, but there's no one in atm. I'm reluctant to move them in case there's a big reason they're needed.

Are there any statues nearby?

OMG I would be glued to the front window! And maybe have a sign up saying 'not my no parking sign'. How fun! 😂

Bring back the cones hotline!

Officially you can't put cones in the road without a permit as it counts as blocking the public highway, so you could just collect them up and put them out of the way on the pavement if you wanted. You'd also probably find out who put them there when they come to see who has shifted them.

I agree with a pp who suggested asking the school if they know about it.

Maybe it’s end of term thing and they are expecting a large vehicle

I have seen two in the past week placed on top of a gate post and a fence! Also, cone hats are now a thing.

Agreed. Cross out no parking on the sign and write in “free cones” if you don’t want them yourself.

This does not affect you at all OP. Just leave them alone. Someone has put them there for a reason.

We had this once and it turned out to be house removals! Unless it’s the school’s new tactic to help stop parents blocking drives?! You could call the school office and enquire.

Neighour is an elderly widower with dementia and live in carers, but there's no one in atm. I'm reluctant to move them in case there's a big reason they're needed

Perhaps he has died and they have put them there to keep a space free for the funeral cortege.
Or perhaps the carers are fed up with not being able to get a parking space.
Or maybe he's been in hospital and there needs to be space to park when he returns home so that it's easy to get him into the house.
Maybe they are having a skip delivered next door to do a serious declutter.
Or maybe it's the people opposite who are pissed off with not being able to get into their drive due to people parking opposite.

Could be anything. As long as you can get on to your drive to park it's not an issue.

As they are not usually there, everyone will assume a bus, lorry, skip, whatever is coming. Stop worrying about how you are perceived by randoms.

It does affect me because the parents really can be nasty about parking. I don't want a brick through my window or graffitti on my cars or even my plants damaged or any confrontation.

And I know, as I said, unless you've experienced it you wouldn't believe it. The way they speak to their own DC is bad enough!

I'd check with the school or other neighbours. Could someone be expecting a big delivery? My first thought was funeral cars as someone else mentioned.

Where do you live?!

I live on a school road and I've never seen anything close to this behaviour.

If you're worried someone's seriously going to call you outside for a fight, just move the cones. But it all sounds a bit OTT.

Write Fight the PA on the sign.

PA is parking authority.

Most parents are fine and the area the school is in is 'nice' but not all the catchment is, and those most likely to park across driveways aren't the nice ones.

Sounds well-deserved for someone to have put out cones then

No don’t move them, you’d feel awful if it was a funeral at school home time and the cars had nowhere to park! It might not be your immediate neighbour. When I lived in Ireland they used to put proper looking road signs out that said SLOW: WAKE.

Crikey! Sounds a tough place to live!!

If you’re not happy with them being there, move them.

We put cones out like this when we moved. I felt really worried about it but there was no way to reserve parking through council (won’t bore with detail) and we lived on an extremely busy main road. Thankfully people left them and the removal van could park or no idea what we would have done!

I’d ask the school if they know anything and let them know it’s not you that put them there.

If it was for a hearse the cones would be black.

I live opposite a school and they put out cones every morning to stop parents from parking and keep traffic moving (parents throw their kids out of their cars at a collection of teachers waiting to catch them). They take the cones back in after 9am. Maybe it’s the same thing?

are they blocking a dropped kerb?