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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Should I confront my neighbours about their behaviour and what should I say to them?

38 replies

Busybee1234 · 26/12/2016 20:48

There used to be parking for approximately 12 cars in our small 14 house cul-de-sac. Most of us have families with young children and so those with more than one car try to be kind and park multiple cars outside of the cul-de-sac on the busy main road or on other longer roads in the neighbourhood.

Cue our new neighbours. Shortly after moving in they created a big sweeping driveway with space for two cars. Their driveway layout took a further 3 street parking spaces away and even though this was not great for our community as a whole it was their right to do so.

However, for the last couple of months they park their second vehicle ON THE ROAD IN THE CUL-DE-SAC instead of on their drive. So the picture is this: each day there is one car and an empty space in their drive and their second car gets parked in the already jam packed cul-de-sac. A couple of times now they've been outside their house and seen many of the cul-de-sac neighbours park in the middle of the street, unload armfuls of shopping and children and then dash off to go and hunt for another space on a different road. On these occasions they just smiled at or ignored us but never volunteered to move their street parked car onto the vacant space in their driveway.

WWYD??? I'm quietly boiling inside...

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 26/12/2016 21:54

If all these drivers can't manage their kids/shopping unless they're parked in the cul-de-sac, why don't they have their own driveways?

TheAnswerIsYes · 26/12/2016 21:58

Yabu. I think you should mind your own business rather than appoint yourself parking monitor. They can park legally on the street if they want to however inconsiderate you find it. They must have their own reason for parking this way and even if you deem it selfish your right to a space on the road doesn't trump theirs.

Benedikte2 · 26/12/2016 22:00

OP do you know all or most of your other neighbours? If so draw up a round robin asking the offending neighbours very politely to use their own driveway. Finish up wishing them a happy new year
Good luck

SingaSong12 · 26/12/2016 22:12

This made me wonder whether they got blocked in once (or more) and decided to minimise the risk of both being blocked in.
However why not just park in front of their own drive - I don't drive - could the council/other body try to fine someone if they parked blocking their own drive. Council are hardly likely to get complaints unless doing so would cause a problem for other road users.

teaandakitkat · 26/12/2016 22:14

We had a similar situation recently and a fellow neighbour got advice from the local police that it's ok to park in front of an empty driveway but not one with a car in. So long as you are not blocking anyone in. So a braver neighbour than me parked across the offending neighbours driveway when their car was clearly parked on the street. Left a note on the windscreen saying 'saw you car parked on the street again, the road was full, if you need into your driveway here's my number'. The offending neighbour didn't say anything about it, but their car has been parked on their driveway ever since.

WorraLiberty · 26/12/2016 22:15

What does 'draw up a round robin' mean?

Do you mean like a letter signed by everyone else in the street and stuck through the neighbour's door?

If so, I can't think of anything more cowardly really.

As a PP said, no-one's right to park in the street trumps anyone else's, but if people really must insist on doing it, without installing their own dropped curb/driveway, they could at least have the politeness to speak to the neighbours themselves.

maldini · 26/12/2016 22:18

Tea - really??? Someone actually did that? That's embarrassing.

maldini · 26/12/2016 22:23

Also surely you would just next time park your car across two spaces of your drive until the other person came back if some idiot was deciding to park across it? Pathetic honestly. Buy a house with a fucking drive if you're that fucking bothered. If you can't afford a house with a drive or they don't come up much in your area etc, tough shite.

maldini · 26/12/2016 22:24

(I say that as someone who lives in a city where the parking is horrendous and I definitely cannot afford a house with a drive here)

Busybee1234 · 27/12/2016 19:13

Thank everyone! Good to know your opinions and take on things. x

OP posts:
OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 27/12/2016 19:26

OK, any witty one liners I can use as ice breakers? "oh hi, just settle an argument with my other neighbours? Have you always been a selfish dick, or did you take lessons"

Kilby37 · 10/02/2017 12:40

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

SalmonFajitas · 10/02/2017 12:55

If all these drivers can't manage their kids/shopping unless they're parked in the cul-de-sac, why don't they have their own driveways?

They can manage - it's just inconvenient for them, they may well rent or not have the money to have a driveway built. Sounds like the neighbours are being very selfish - the fact that what they're doing is legal doesn't mean it isn't inconsiderate.

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