To still park here?

[MissJSays]

Basically there is no parking at my university. To get a permit to park in the uni car park costs just under £700 a year. There is a church down the road from the campus which has a car park, me and 2 of the other girls park there for 3 hours 2 days per week. Today I was leaving when a woman came out of the church and said 'you can't park here because you're not part of the church.' I said 'oh right' she went on to say 'because I know you do it all the time.' She said it in such a rude and patronising tone but I was caught off guard with a million bags in my hand so didn't have much to say back.

What are the rules, who owns churches? Are they owned by the council? If so am I allowed to park there? There are no signs there at all relating to parking, nothing saying you can or cannot park there.

I'll also add in 3 years at uni she is the only person I've ever seen anywhere near the church, it always seems closed.
Any advice would be much appreciated!

Really good idea, I'll call tomorrow and bribe them with cash offer a donation

Yabu

The permit works out roughly £5 for a full day over 26 weeks of uni which is pretty good.

Churches are really struggling financially (I'm not religious but have done accounts for various churches as has a family member) the maintenance (even if it appears minimal to you) insurance and security costs will come out of the church budget. In addition it may seem quiet/closed to you but that's only at the times you're there. In order to raise funds most churches hire out their rooms to mother and toddler and various charity groups. The people you're preventing from parking near the church could be parents with young Children and quite likely to be elderly or disabled too.

You say the public transport would take you 2.5hrs and 3 bus changes but why not simulate a park and ride situation? Park at a legal cheap long term place one bus ride from uni - it's what I and I'm sure many others have done.

You could get there 5 mins early each day and pop into the church and say a little prayer :)

You've been using a private car park to get out of paying for a parking permit and you think the church user was patronizing? May be she was, but really you sound like you deserved it!

If you want to freeload on someone else's property to avoid paying your way you should check with them first, not get defensive when you're caught out.

I'm a minister, and in my previous church we had a good sized car park which people did sometimes park in without asking permission. It was annoying, because although much of the time the car park was unused, or only used by a few cars, at other times the car park was full to overflowing, e.g., if there was a large funeral or wedding, or other event on in the building. It wasn't a massive problem, but we much preferred it if people asked first. That way, we knew who the car belonged to, why and how long it was there for, and we'd suggest that they park in the corner furthest from the church.

I currently work in a church outreach centre, which is used 6 or 7 days per week, daytime and evening. Because we're in a town centre where it costs to park on the street or in public car parks, we regularly get people who have nothing to do with us, parking in our small car park. The car park might be empty when they arrive, but we have lots of people coming and going at different times, many of whom have mobility problems and need to be able to park close by. Twice, recently, a car was parked so close to the end of the wheelchair ramp that it would have been impossible for a wheelchair user to get in or out of the building. We didn't know who the cars belonged to so couldn't get them to move. Sometimes people park their cars, block other cars in, then go shopping! We've had volunteers unable to get out of our car park when they left, and had have to be given lifts or take taxis to get children from school or get to hospital appointments.

Grrrr....

Rant over.

Just ask. If it's do-able and not going to get in anyone's way, they may well say it's fine.

it might be an insurance issue.

The other thing is insurance. If, God forbid (pun sort of intended) something happens to you or your car while on their property, wouldn't they be liable under their insurance?

It isn't your church, it isn't your land, it isn't your right to park there. It sounds like you've been getting away with it for however long, well, now you've been not only caught out, but specifically and directly asked to stop. YA(maybe)NBU for parking there as long as no one had told you otherwise, but now someone has, YABVU if you continue to park there despite a direct request not to.

You're not special, and I think you need to stop acting like this rule doesn't apply to you. Parking rules are parking rules, and they may seem arbitrary or unfair to you, but too bad. You're not the only person who finds themselves in a pickle re: parking, but everyone else is managing to toe the line, so I see no reason why you shouldn't too. As PP have said, you can park further away and walk in, or you can bus in, or bike in, or pay the darn permit money.

Benedikte2
If there's no sign up then just go on parking there in the meantime.
"But there's no sign up!" is not a defense, as OP has been directly asked not to park there now. YABU to give the OP this terrible (and frankly entitled sounding)

Sounds as if the woman is being officious because is a congregant and feels entitled.
She's the entitled one? She actually has a reason to park in that lot and be at that church. The OP can't say the same. The OP is just an opportunistic parker. I'd be miffed too if the place where I needed to be was being taken over by chancers.

Sounds as if it might be one of those churches rarely used because of a shrinking congregation.
So that makes it okay to disregard a direct request?

Could you drive past on a Sunday morning to check if it's open? Is there a notice re times of services? At the times you use it it's unlikely to ever be wanted by church people.
Now you're advocating Secret Squirrel espionage type tactics just to justify parking where OP has no business parking, where they have been specifically asked to stop? You know I think people like you are the REASON places like this send people out to say no parking - because you just take, and you take, and you take, and it doesn't matter who else you're screwing in the process, does it?

OP, at least you hesitated enough about this behavior to come and ask. I hope you take on board that yes, you ARE being unreasonable to continue parking there after being directly asked to stop, and I hope you ignore advice from entitled, selfish people like Benedikte2 - instead of becoming one of them yourself.

Yabu to park there. However id contact the church and ask if you can park there. Youve nothing to lose in asking. They might say yes!

Some entitled individual decided free parking outside our church was just fine for them.

On the day of my mums funeral. Which meant the hearse couldn't get in properly and ended up blocking half the street.

Find somewhere else to park.

And re other posters saying the person who asked you lot to park there was an officious, bust body member of the congregation......I'd be willing to bet they were probably a church warden.

not to park there busy body

What a load of rubbish Graphita to say churches are struggling financially! Only one look at the wealthiest/landowners in the country and you will find the Queen. the Duke of Westminster and his ilk and the Church of England!!

I'm amazed at the ignorance of all those doing fund raising for the church roof etc who don't know that! The good thing about it obviously is the goodwill shown by a kindhearted community.

How about attending church for a bit or offer to volunteer with some of the activities at least, meet the vicar, offer a donation and go from there.

TENSHI

Have you ever sat on a PCC?

Individual churches ARE struggling especially non Church of England ones. Where are you getting your info from tenshi?

Plus land ownership =/= cash wealth

The Uni in my city has this situation. The church car park (a field in front of the church not marked out with spaces) is shared between the church and the school opposite. Both are fairly busy at times, and the fact that the car park is used by staff/students at the university makes that tricky at times eg during the school runs, funeral services etc (church has priority over the school so notices go out to parents if a funeral or wedding overlaps the school run).

The uni has an arrangement with a nearby park and ride as an alternative to parking permits or pay and display on campus.

Church of England investment portfolio to spend £100m
The Church has an enormous estate which includes properties in villages, towns and cities across the country as well as more than 100,000 acres of land in England and Wales. Its property portfolio is worth almost £2 billion and accounts for around a third of the £6.7bn in assets it holds.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/church-of-england-must-sell-some-off-of-its-land-in-response-to-housing-crisis-says-report-10311182.html

How does anyone not know this??

Perhaps ask the Cof E to donate to non cof e churches Graphista?

Let's see how really christian and charitable such a wealthy institution really is!

How cheeky, you can't park in a church car park with no intention of the church. You have been told not to park there.

Get a parking permit or use the bus like everybody else.

And you can park on privately owned land because . . . do tell.

What degree are you taking, OP? I suggest you take another one. I am astonished that you wouldn't have made the pretty fair common sense assumption that the car park belongs to the church.

You say it looks empty most of the time. That's because you park there before stuff happens. Can you imagine what it might be like for people turning up to a funeral and they can't park because some selfish student thinks they can just park where they like?

Well if half the university decided to use this car park....

Ask the vicar for official permission to park in return for a donation

graphista
The Church of England is not remotely struggling. It is worth tens of billions of pounds, and has vast reserves of gold, property, shares and cash.

The reason individual churches give the impression of struggling is just a massive tax dodge and charity grab by the Church.
It's nonsensical- the Church building is part of the CofE when they add up their assets but when the Church needs a new roof, suddenly it is the responsibility of the local Community, hence the reprehensible chancel repair tax on local residents...

Churches get enormous hand outs from the state for providing a 'community service'
As long as I wasn't at risk of wheel clamping or a ticket, I would have no hesitation about parking there, and wouldn't be volunteering a single shiny penny to do so