to think if you convert your front garden in to a drive you should actually be able to park your car there?

[headfairy]

Loads of people near us have converted their front gardens to allow for off street parking and at the same time making their houses look hideous but some of the houses around here are fairly small Victorian semis with small front garden really only big enough to accommodate a Fiesta sized car, yet the people living there have giant estates or 4x4s that are too big for the space. Three houses in my road have the whole front of the car up to the middle of the front doors sticking in to the pavement. Do the council ever check these things?

it's not just a case of bad parking by the way, just not enough space. It means you have to walk in the road to get around these cars.

That must be annoying but I don't know how it works with footpaths - when it was really icy last winter we were told it was the responsibility of each building to clear the space in front of that building. I guess the car issue might be different!

well presumably the snow is a temporary obstruction (unless you live in the north pole :o) but the cars sticking out are pretty much there all the time (I guess they take public transport to work, or don't work) and are pretty large and solid.

Yes this is fucking infuriating (and unsafe especically if you've got to get a pushchair or something on and off the pavement). Get on to your council but I think they will tell you to contact the local community police officer who can give them a ticket.

captain Can they do that then? Issue them with a ticket I mean. There are three houses where they do it all the time! It's a quiet residential street so I guess it doesn't come to the attention of the authorities. Does that make a difference?

you're not allowed to block a footpath. If their car means that people can't get round (that includes wheelchairs, buggies etc) then they can be fined. also, they have to have the right to drive across the pavement. If they don't have that,then they can be in trouble as well. To have right of access they should have a dropped curb outside their property.

You can have the front garden looking however they want, but they have no rights over the pavement outside their house.

What kickass said!

Somebody I knew got a letter from the council telling them to trim back their plants as they were blocking the pavement. Somebody must have reported it. So pavement blocking is taken seriously.

YANBU. Its as bad as people parking half road/half pavement. What are people in wheelchairs supposed to do? Obstruction to partially sighted people too.

Where do you live? I think in London it's illegal, elswhere its just bad - Highway code:
You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs.

Where I live they wouldn't have been allowed to drop the kerb unless there was something like 4m from the house to the edge of the property. If the kerb isn't dropped it is illegal to drive over it.

they do have dropped kerbs, but I don't know how long the dropped kerb has been there as we only moved in 2 years ago.

We're not in London, E. Surrey. I might start taking some photos on my phone for evidence. Knowing my luck if I tell the council they'll send someone round the day the offenders are out!

I should have thought to answer was obvious. Push a pushchair/wheelchair/shopping trolley past a few times and accidentally scrape the front of the car.

I just can't get past the tarmacing of gardens to comment!

People where I live are doing this in droves. Even though the houses have drives, and the streets are quiet and fine to park an extra car on.

Oh no, they MUST have their cars right outside their front window.
Much nicer to look at than all that horrid grass and greenery..

Serve the nature raping fuckers right when their houses flood due to having no drainage left.

I would think people would need to buy a car that actually fits the space they have. Parking across the pavement is an obstruction. Just report it.

You are permitted to drive over a pavement to get to private property. You are not allowed to park or drive on a pavement otherwise.

I don't know if you should complain first to the local authority or to the police.

If you have ever tried to manage a wheelchair (which is a lot heavier and less maneuvrable than a buggy) you will be enraged.

Oh I do sallying, and sometimes I can't fully control ds on his scooter

NowThen I hate tarmacing over gardens too. I do think it's the ultimate act of selfishness. I almost wept as I watched neighbours a few doors up ripping up their beautiful front garden. I felt so upset I asked if I could have the lovely lavender plants they were chucking in to a skip. Dh keeps saying we should do it too, but they'll have to drive the digger over my cold dead body before I let them chop down my beautiful magnolia tree and turf up all my lovely hebe's and fuschias.

Oh Piglet I know. I used to take my grandmother out in her pushchair and they are bulky and because it's an adult sitting in them so much heavier than a pushchair.

Oh its inconvenient with a pushchair but I can't even imagine having to manouevre an adult weight up and down the kerb. Yes the local police issue a fixed penalty notice near me (North West) when a car obstructed the pavement (so that you couldn't get a single buggy past it). Council weren't interested and referred me to police.

Piglet John - not according to Birmingham City Council. They were VERY clear that crossing a raised kerb is not permitted.

should I knock on the offenders door before I call the council. Would that be the polite thing to do or am I likely to get a face full of abuse?

then they'll know it was you.

i a car is on the foot path and you scratch it accidentally when getting passed it is their own fault and you are not responsible for any damage a had a friend that had a neighbor that used to park half on path half on road i said to him to get his dc to stay on the path when walking passed with their bikes few scratches later their was room on their drive

piglet well yes, that would be the case, but I wondered if it was just polite to give them a chance to find alternative parking space. They could park across the dropped kerb. After all, no one else can park there.

They do in a way get two guaranteed parking spaces, the one in their drive (for a smaller car that is) and the one on the dropped kerb in front of their drive (I assume they can park there as they are only blocking themselves in). Whilst us front garden lovers get no parking spaces. That's another reason to hate them.

headfairy I would just report them without telling them first.
They know their car is causing an obstruction but have chosen to do it anyway. I think it is very unlikely that telling them will do anything other than out you when you do complain.

I think you're probably right gamerwidow, I thought I'd try the considerate route first, but they're not being considerate so why should I?

Absolutely headfairy. Ds and I were walking past a tarmaccing-in-the act the other day, and he asked me why they were doing it.
I said "Because some people are rather vulgar darling"

Plants take years to grow and mature, I for one get an enormous amount of pleasure from pretty front gardens; it is selfish, because it's for the whole neighbourhood to enjoy, not just the house owner. Also, once tarmacced, it is unlikely anything will ever grow there again, let alone the wildlife they are displacing.
Can you tell it's my personal bugbear!?