To think our neighbour is taking the piss....

[bottleofbeer]

Small-ish road of terraced houses, one family has THREE transit vans, a flatbed (approx 8 foot long, maybe more) a 4x4 and a car. They save each other spaces so by the time they're all home from work their vehicles take up at least three quarters of one side of the road. You're lucky if you can get to park in your own road. These same people have been known to 'have words' with other neighbours for parking outside their house. My friend recently left a couple of chairs outside her home because of a delivery that was en route and she needed the space. They moved said chairs and parked there - this is the very same method they employ to ensure they all get to park down this road, every night and there would be murder if any of us did the same thing. Their 'rules' don't apply to themselves you see.

One elderly neighbour likes to sit and watch the world go by from her living room window and often can't because of huge vans parked outside and she's finding it really distressing. She can no longer park near her home and often has to lug about bags of shopping from literally streets away as it's the closest she can get. Same applies to others with small children carting buggies and shopping because there is next to no chance of getting closer to their homes. Apparently nothing can be done because they pay their road tax...yeah, but so do we. What really grates on my nerves about it all is that they would never in a million years stand for the same behaviour from any of us. We had them knocking on our door to complain about a small trailer we had temporarily attached to our car. The lack of consideration is breathtaking. I'm at the point of writing anonymously to them to let them know that pretty much every other neighbour is at their wit's end with it. Oh, they also have CCTV and the cameras must point directly into the opposite neighbours bedrooms, I'm pretty sure you're not alloed to have CCTV pointing anywhere but at your own property?

[mayorquimby]

"That elsewhere is not outside somebody who owns a car's house iyswim?"

Wouldn't go along with that either. firmly in the "people don't have any rights over the public road outside their house" camp

[notcitrus]

Have you suggested to the old lady and the council that she should have a disabled parking space designated outside her house? They aren't restricted to one person so anyone with a blue badge can park there, but that should stop the vans parking in front of her house so she can get her shopping in.

Apart from that, YABU - park where and when there's a space and don't be intimidated out of them!

[bottleofbeer]

Thanks or the input and suggestions :)

I appreciate it might seem like I have some huge issue with them as people and I'm using this as my get out clause of a good old vent but the boring truth is I actually don't. I don't like them very much but that's purely due to their one rule for them attitude. We've never personally been in a position where we've felt unable to park in a place they set up their little spec saving devices, I certainly WOULD move them - this is just stuff I've heard from grumbly neighbours in the past and mentioned them to illustrate their hypocrisy. For instance when some others moved out a few weeks ago they put their wheelie bins out to save a space for the removal van - a huge removal van. Did it bother me? not in the slightest, I completely understood the need for the removal van to get outside their house. One offs are understandable but I guarantee had any of them came home needing to park one of their fleet they'd have grumbled about the inconsideration and moved them regardless of the real need for the space at that time.

She's a proper fishwife, one time absolutely raving angry about a skip that had been let in the street - in her opinion - too long and was throwing bits of rubbish out of it at the man who eventually came to pick it up. I'm just astonished there isn't some by law preventing self centred people like this taking up the equivalent of half the rest of the road's parking space, and yes, I know nobody has a right to a space outside their house or even in their own street but the upshot is people in neighbouring streets also feel the effect of it as half of our road had to use theirs!

As another poster pointed out, they are rather like bullies, so it's not really at odds that he was all panicky when he thought he'd been rumbled as the one who blew us up to the council.

It's their double standards that I can't abide!

[WreckaJones]

OP Is the neighbour running a business from home? i just wonder why the need for so many transit vans and whether there are any planning issues involved.

I think you need to get your neighbours together to discuss what you want to do and what you can do to make parking on your street easier for all of you. Can you invite a few round for a cup of tea at a time or suggest a drink in a pub one evening?

[TheMagnificentBathykolpian]

Challenge them. Park where you like and if they say anything, just reel off the list of selfish things they do and ask them why they think that it is one rule for them and another for the rest of you.

Be blunt.

[HummelBoy]

Do you live near the cast from Shameless ?
They sound frightfully common.

[PreviouslyonLost]

Exactly what toniguy said...Bullies.

[MuddlingMackem]

YANBU and I can understand why it's so annoying. Am I right in thinking that it's the kind of street with no off-street parking? I'm just a little confused with some of the posters going on about drop kerbs because it didn't sound that kind of street to me.

A couple of years ago we had a situation with one house at our end of the street being a two-car household, and we quickly realised that this is definitely a maximum one car per household street - row of old terraces with very few having back yard off-street parking. I can imagine just how horrendous it would be having half a dozen cars at one house, let alone more than one van.

Pity you can't arrange for the rest of the street to return and park, once the bully family have left, so that you can rearrange your cars to fill up the street and just leave them.

[Ripeberry]

My dad lives on a street where one side of the street has a driveway and the other has to park on the road (due to hill).
The neighbour opposite has four cars and the driveway can fit two cars and next to it there is a small patch of grass.
He will always only park ONE car on the driveway and all three other cars are on my dad's side of the street.
He will be out there most weeks, carefully tending his tiny bit of grass, but can't seem to 'get it' that he is causing trouble for others.
Makes my dad furious and when he does get a space outside his own house he sometimes does not move it for days just so had he does not lose the spot.

[bottleofbeer]

No sadly, it's not near the cast from Shameless, wish it was! life wouldn't ever be dull - oh dear, that makes me sound awful.

It's gradually crept up on us all, one van that he used to keep in a lock up became two, then the son got a flatbed, then the other day he bought another van, added to the two other cars (one a 4x4 so quite big in itself) and before we knew it they had almost a whole fleet! basically he employs a few other men and he provides the vans which he keeps here, the CCTV presumably to keep an eye on the vehicles (yet they seem to point directly ahead)? I'm sure if he wanted the employees could take the vans home with them thus freeing up a whole lotta spaces here but for whatever reason - he doesn't.

Yup OP you're right, there is no off road parking here, maybe not making that clear (didn't occur tbh) didn't give the true picture of how bad the situ is :)