Cul-de-sac conundrums

[bunny100]

Hi everyone,

I am a longterm lurker of AIBU and have entered a conundrum in my life which I really don't know if I am being unreasonable about or not, so I would appreciate some honesty.

So, we have recently moved into a cul-de-sac and live near the circle at the end. Due to the circle everyone has their own drive which is seperated by a cobbled line, so it is clear whose drive belongs to whom. We can fit 2 vehicles in our drive, but one would have to be in front of the other. One car blocks the other, so if I need to go somewhere and my husbands car is in the way, I have to move it first before I can leave and vice versa. The end of the drive is onto the road, so I currently park within the line of the cobbles of our drive, and on the road part that is directly in front of my house, i.e. if you were to look out our front room my car is sat there.

A couple of days ago a neighbour but one (whom I hadn't yet met) came over and confrontationally asked me to not park there as it makes it hard for her to 'swing round' the turning circle and reverse into her driveway. She started by asking if the car had been 'abandoned' (I am a shift worker so work strange hours, but have taken it out every day for the past week!), I said it had not and I use it frequently. She also said 'as you don't drive you should move it'. Now, the gap between the back end of my car and the back end of the other car is approximately 8m wide, so she has 8m within which to reverse straight backwards. The turning circle is far wider than this, maybe 20m? I explained my car is 2/3 on my driveway, and a bit on the road directly outside my house and no one elses. She was very strange, wouldn't look me in the face or listen to what I was saying and eventually walked off.

Yesterday I decided I would move my car and block my husband in, but only because he is away at present so it isn't inconvenient. So all yesterday and today the car has been far up the driveway. However, today I get home and find a long A4 letter from an anonymous neighbour saying that the car ought to be moved because it makes it 'an obstacle course' for when the bin men come. It says 'before you began blocking the drive directly outside your house with a car' the neighbours did x y and z. This really irked me because they obviously dropped it round today, and I had moved the car by then anyway!

I've found this all a bit upsetting as we have only just moved here, found everyone isn't too friendly, my husband is away and I miss him terribly, and also I probably have PMT.

AIBU to want to park on my own driveway? I hope that all makes sense.

Once you're parked legally I'd ignore them and continue to park as you find convenient

Yes i drive. I have a volunteer role that means I have to park in all sorts of places Norude. The houses in cul de sacs with turning circles are the worst-there's always cars everywhere.

You have to just get on with it, reverse half way down the road-whatever.

Your neighbour is pissing on their perceived boundary.

I moved into a cul de sac many years ago. We are at the blind end. No turning circle but a bit at right angle to the road on the other side for manoeuvring. Very soon after moving in my sister stayed with me for two weeks with her brand new baby as her husband was away with the army. She parked her car at the bottom of the driveway half on the pavement as the drive was not wide enough to get the baby out of the car in the car seat, overgrown hedge etc.

Neighbour facing came to door to advise that we were causing an obstruction as she did not have room to reverse. She was on the wide side of the turn I was straight onto the road. The neighbour beside her (her friend) parked on the road in the widest part of the cul de sac. I had a few near misses with that one (sadly). My sister opened the door and was pleasant and apologised. I was fuming when I heard. My sister did not want to be assertive as she did not live there.

People we bought from had a boat and a caravan that they caused endless hassle with reversing and parking and nothing was ever said (other neighbours told me this). If you are not causing an obstruction try not to worry, It still rankles with me that I did not speak to neighbour at time. It would have made me feel better.

"If the turning circle was for emergency vehicles then there should be signs saying so. There are roads up and down the country where fire engines would struggle to get through due to sheer volume of cars parked on the roads."

The whole purpose of turning circles is to facilitate emergency services, as well as service vehicles like bin lorries and utility vehicles. As well as cars.

When a cul de sac is planned, the developers have to meet regulations that specify the amount of room needed for the fire services to turn around.

People shouldn't need a specific sign on every road to tell them to park in a manner that would allow a fire engine through. It seems like common sense.

Although, sadly, I agree such signs may be increasingly necessary.

I can't really picture how OP has been parked, would her car not have been completely blocking the pavement if it's sticking out of her drive onto the road?

Sparklingbrook - I live in a cul de sac with a turning circle and all of the houses have at least one car and most have two or more and it isn't a nightmare and I have never had to reverse out of the cul de sac because all of the residents appreciate the need to turn in the circle and therefore don't block it by parking in a selfish manner.
The bin lorry always gets down the street too as people know the space is limited and leave enough room for big vehicles to pass.
Maybe I just live in a street with people who consider their neighbours rather than just themselves.
It's probably one of the reasons why I love living here. Good and considerate neighbours are hard to find.

I too live in a cul de sac with a turning circle and it states on our deeds that we are not allowed to park in the turning circle.

Thanks for all the comments everyone.

I would add a picture if someone could tell me how! We are not blocking anything for fire engines, bin lorries, etc..

I have decided to move the car for the sake of harmony. I've thought about it and I think what I really struggled with was the confrontational way they went about it, and the letter AFTER I had moved the vehicle. Never mind :-)

We're in a cul de sac and if someone's in the way we just ask them nicely to move it, same for us. But then our neighbours are all friendly reasonable people!

Draw a picture, photograph it and post it on your page!
YANBU by The sound of it!!