Drive - no dropped kerb and getting blocked in

[Shnorbitz]

Ok, before anyone starts with the 'well you don't have a dropped kerb so there'.....

Typical street near town centre, lots of double yellows and not much parking. Road already heavily over subscribed with residents cars.

Anyhoo, there are multiple houses on the street that have made their gardens into drives and some have, and some don't have, dropped kerbs. I applied to the council and was turned down for a dropped kerb as the size of our frontage didn't meet their minimum space requirements. I obtained a list of planning permission since year ., of all the houses that have dropped kerbs not one of them was given permission.

To be honest we did think about putting one regardless but knew someone would dob us in so we haven't.

The residents that have done the same, and have no dropped kerbs, have vehicles way bigger than the drive and overhang the path quite a bit. I don't I'm fully on.

No one ever gets a ticket unless it's a car on double yellows.

Outside our house is double yellows so in theory no one should be parking there but they do.

In the past week I've been blocked in twice. One of the cars did get a parking ticket.

Now there's a car there today blocking me in. WIBU to put a note in the car asking them not to park there given that there are multiple parking spaces today so there really was need to block me in?

Both times that I've been blocked in there have been other spaces available.

If there wasn't and someone needed to unload shopping or whatever, I have no issue with it.

I would go back to the council and fight for the dropped kerb, and point out all the other dropped kerbs on the street and the double yellow lines and issues on surrounding streets. Parking on your drive sounds sensible other the circumstances.

And it only contributes to flooding if the surface is not permeable, which I believe is now generally required when turning front gardens into parking spaces.

I feel your pain OP but not sure what you can do about it as things currently stand. It is annoying though.

If you have a Blue Badge you may park on double yellows for upto 3 hours, with certain provisos (not related to your circumstances).

I think the only way forward is as PP suggested - trying to get a bit of leverage with council with a view to them giving you all permission for a dropped kerb.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler it isn't just OP's problem if she damages the curb and pavement driving over it. I have to walk past two houses on the school run who have drives with no dropped curb. Both have totally churned up the grass verge (really deep grooves) and caused the pavement to be thick with mud (very slippery to walk over), and one has also caused the pavement to break up. The one with the broken pavement is so bad it's actually impassable and we have to walk out into the road to go around it.

the council put bollards along the kerb - one in front of every garden

Yep, where I live this is a regular occurrence.... If you park on your property with no dropped kerb, you are liable to wake up one morning and find yourself bollarded in.

There's a couple of houses on our cul de sac which have bunged short planks of wood in the gutter our side their house to act as a make shift slope up the curb to get to their front drive. When ever i see them i wonder if they've been refused permission for the dropped curb or have just never bothered to ask.

Amaze they've never been reported. By the road sweepers at least, who have to swerve round the wood each time.

We don't have verges, just a path.

Maybe I'll try wrangling with the council. I understand that they have minimum requirements for drive space but I see plenty of drives with dropped kerbs where the space is much smaller than ours.

Around here you have to apply to the city council rather than the borough council for a dropped kerb and I'm wondering whether if I approached my local councillor it might make a difference.

Where are you supposed to park if you're not allowed a dropped kerb and there are double yellows down your street?

It doesn't matter whether there is a verge or not, you can still cause damage which can present a trip hazard to pedestrians or damage services than run under the pavements. The tarmac is thinner on pavements compared to roads and not designed to take the weight of a car.

Where are you supposed to park if you're not allowed a dropped kerb and there are double yellows down your street?

Somewhere else. Another street where there is space to park legally, a public car park perhaps. If there's no space outside your house, that's tough luck - either get used to parking elsewhere, give up the car or move.

You should try living in an area where there is permit parking - a waiting list to get on it, high permit charges, and no guarantee of a space.

Agree with PP - YABU. The pavement is not built to have cars driven across it.

Disabled badge holders can park on double yellows legally for up to three hours and could block you in.

If you need on road parking and there is none available I can't understand why you chose to live there.

@barinaxte I've already mentioned that all the streets round here are the same - so I just push one person off my street because I can't park? It would mean person would then have to park on the next street and so on. We'd be parking at least a mile away from home at that rate.

@tenterden I chose to live here because it was affordable. Not all of us have the luxury of being able afford houses with drives.

My point is OP, you get what you pay for.

If the parking was a priority for you, then you should have chosen somewhere with parking rather than make a unilateral decision that you would take ownership of the pavement and use that as a drive anyway.

you park where you can - (if its legal) - if you have to park in the next road and there's a knock on effect, then thats life...

We have dropped kerb but have to drive across pavement.
Common here. Drop kerb on pavement...

@Santas They may have Blue Badges though? You CAN park on double yellow lines if you have a Blue Badge

Yes, Lonely, I did say "except in selected circumstances".

I was working on the assumption that OP would have already checked to see whether the cars were displaying blue badges.

Indeed I did!

While it's not illegal to park on a footpath it is illegal for you to drive over or on a footpath without a dropped kerb (which you must do to get to your 'driveway') and you want someone to not block you in when you break the law each and every time you park there?! You are both massively in the wrong! If you can't park outside your own house, even on your own street legally, tough luck. It's not the end of the world not to be able to park close to your house. Just imagine, there are people who manage without cars at all, mind boggling I know..

Yabu re driving over a kerb as you damging it every time. If a car parks in front and is legally parked but blocking you in if the kerb is not allowed theres nothing you can do as you at fault for parking. However in this case sounds like a yellow line so no one should park there anyway. Be warned op the council could and have done block you in whilst your car is parked in your garden by building bollards on the pavement. A quick goggle brings up a few storiss.. Hate seeing the massive car parks you see when people do this. However if youve permission re dropped kerb at least you legal. Does anyone know if this effects your household insurance.

Just not good manners to block a car in its drive way.
Ignorant and rude...
Anyway- double yellow line so mute point...

IF the council were to make mine and other roads one way the problem would be solved and fire engines etc would still be able to get through. For our road alone, it would highlight the fact that the main roads around the town cannot cope with the volume of traffic leading to massive complaints - because taxi drivers and commuters users it to avoid the multiples of traffic lights we have. Not to mention the revenue from parking fines.

There are thousands of roads similar to mine across the country and it's only going to get worse. What's the solution, ban the residents from owning cars????

No, the car shouldn't have parked on double yellow lines.

But you have paved garden, not a drive.

You're parked illegally, they are parked illegally [shrug]

Understood @soup, but why block someone in when you don't need/have to?????

Sympathies op!
Parking can be very tricky and I don't see why you should not park in your front garden.
Blocking a car on purpose is just bloody minded though...
Hope they get a ticket.