School parking.....

[Shirleycantbe]

My childrens' school is in a resident parking area in London - at pick up time the bays are Residents only. It's therefore a nightmare for any one to park and people ignore the residents only rule - thus putting themselves at risk of being ticketed by the traffic wardens that roam the streets at that time. The residents also get extremely irate (understandably) that the street is difficult for them to park in between 3pm and 4pm.

Now my question. As I live in the same borough, I have Visitor parking permits I can use that allow me, legally, to park in the street at any time. I have been doing this once a week maximum (my children finish school after restrictions have ended at other times).

The school ask parents not to park in these bays because it annoys the residents. AIBU to park there anyway since I am legally entitled to?

You're overthinking it OP. You've already said that the residents are getting incredibly frustrated by the type of parking that is going on in their street and that the school has already asked you not to park there (presumably at drop off/pick up times as opposed to any other time) - so focus on that as opposed to hypothetical parking situations.

It will be interesting to see what the council has to say in response to your specific question. Out of interest - how did you go about getting a visitors permit? Did you have to pay for it? Did you have to state who it was you were visiting?

I'll report back on what the council says SirChenjin. With regards to the visitor permits - yes I have to pay for them,I just order them online and am entitled to them as a resident in the borough. You don't need to have your own residents parking permit. You can buy up to 120 a year and no, you don't need to provide any information at all on them - you just scratch off the date and time when you use them.

I do take your point by the way, about the feelings of local residents. And my sense of unease is what prompted my OP. I have to say that the altering of parking signs by the residents makes it a bit harder for me to feel sympathetic.

Oh and final point for Sir Chenjin - what the school actually and specifically said was "please don't park in the residents bays unless you have a permit"!

BUT sorry to go on about it, don't you have an actual parking permit, stuck to the windscreen of your car? That you need to park outside your own house? So why do the visitors' permits come into it at all?

Residents' permits in the borough are specific to very small local areas. So although I have a residents permit it isn't valid for where the children go to school (3 miles away). Visitor permits are valid borough-wide.

At the school I work in parents park in the staff car park and block staff members in.

Now that IS twatish

I'm not getting this - are they for people visiting others who live in the borough? Or are they just like pre-paid parking tickets that entitle you to park anywhere? In which case, why doesn't everyone apply for one and just use them to park in the small local areas (which would then mean that the residents of these areas wouldn't be able to park because of the people visiting the area rather than a person living in the area)

It does sound odd doesn't it. Unless the permits are enormously expensive. I'd be interested to hear what the Coucil say. My view is if you're parking legally that's the key consideration here.

I cannot imagine paying for parking to do the school run - I would just park further away (if that is an option - where does the school suggest that you park? Is the whole area residents parking?)

I personally would assume that 'residents parking' means it is for people who live there, not someone living 3 miles away. YABU.