It's a school run parking thread.

[Cactuscactus]

WIBU to complain to the school about parking in the local area this late in the year? Yes there is a diagram, so my descriptions are quite spartan.

We live in a smallish village, on a road of about 10 detached houses that face onto fields. We are in a block of 8 houses, then a turning into a cul de sac, 2 more houses then the school at the end of the road before a junction. (Relevant because this set up isn't clear on the diagram.)

The school have a paragraph in every months newsletter dedicated to reminding parents to park 'considerately to the schools neighbours'. Of course the parents don't pay attention to this or I wouldn't have a complaint. The school also put out little a-boards with notices reminding parents that parking on double yellows/turnings and zig zags is potentially dangerous. Again, no fucks given.

Every day, twice a day I have seen (on rotation) the same 3 cars park one wheel on the double yellows and one wheel over a neighbours dropped kerb. Not so worried about the dropped kerb as I am about the dangerous nature of this parking. The road we live on is only just wide enough for two passing cars, buses and (particularly at this time of year) farm traffic. Parking on those double yellows makes anyone turning right out of the cul de sac have to blindly turn wide onto the opposite side of the road and into on coming traffic (over taking the parked cars).

There is also a growing trend for trying to squeeze a car on the end of a row of properly parked cars, often with most of the car actually parked across a driveway (see "stupidly parked wanker" on diagram).
I have also caught two separate cars attempting to park in my driveway when I've been to drop DD off at nursery.

I'm just getting fed up with the don't care attitude. I often feel like I'm the intruder on my own street for asking cars to move or not park there. Since the weather has been nice, some parents have even turned up early to sunbathe on the front lawn, it's just rude.
So, is it worth complaining to the school with only a fortnight to go? Or should I wait until September and see what fresh parking hell the new school year brings?

Is this school in Essex by any chance? Took one look at your diagram and recognised it straight away.

Nice diagram. Good horse detail...

Complaining will get you nowhere. Trust me, I live opposite a school and two minutes from another school. It will be larking he'll forever and ever... enjoy the summer

For anyone sunbathing on your lawn, maybe sprinklers?

Hm. I can see why it's annoying but looking at your diagram, I've seen a lot worse. People can still get up and down the road and in and out if their drives.

Sounds like the school have done what they can. Given it's for fifteen mins, twice a day, I'd probably try and let it go, for your own sanity.

Sunbathing on your lawn???? That's far worse than the parking, I'd be livid.

Great horsie! 😊

I am not lying when I say that the hose would be coming out every single time some fucker was sitting on my lawn.

I would also be putting giant DO NOT PARK OVER MY DRIVE stickers on windscreens.

That looks pretty blissful compared with many parking scenarios I see near schools, sorry!

As it's a shared driveway you can still get off your drive? So what's the issue?

You have my sympathies, we live very close to the village primary school and often get selfish cunty parents partially blocking our drives and very occasionally completely blocking it. If confronted the cunty parents mutter an apology and claim it's the first time they've ever done it (yes of course it is ).

We don't live opposite fields with horses though - wish we did!

The issue is the tree stump in middle of shared drive?

I like the sprinkler idea, imagine that ....

Ok to be serious for our local school parking issues, the school and local people asked the council's traffic wardens to patrol on random days. So first week police were all over it warning everyone.

Second week people got tickets.

Then you had no idea when they would turn up, so everyone was randomly thinking they were ok then getting tickets.

Could that be organised with your local PCSOs and councillors?

Best diagram I have seen

The cars shown not over drive ways or double yellows are presumably legally parked?

Get the council involved. Similar issues where my parents live, school parents were parking 3 aside across the road completely blocking it off which finally raised enough ire that the council were told to do something. Council was more than happy to issue tickets. No problems anymore. :)

Why is everyone else 'neighbour' but the one on the end 'neighbour (P)' ?

The OP is too long for me to read but 10/10 for the diagram.

Every school up and down the country have the same problem, I don't think there is much they can do other than keep sending out the reminders they are already sending. I wouldn't speak to the school unless you have a revolutionary (and cost neutral) new idea that the school can do to stop them.

If removing the stump would help you exit I would do it. You can get people who remove stumps using grinders and it's not too much disturbance of the ground around it.

I would also ring the council. I would put up a sign on the front lawn saying not to block the drive or use the front lawn and would be tempted to move my car into a position to block my own drive in (see if other neighbours will join in to do the same?) so it is difficult for them to park.

I have not rtft, nor even the first post... just wanted to say, nice horse!

will now rtft

OMG they sunbathe on your lawn? I would lose the plot at that. Cheeky feckers, definitly hose them and put don't park over my drive sticky notes held on with vaseline or something equally annoying over the drivers window each and every time.

I would leave it for now, but coordinate with neighbours on the first week back to police parking. Tell school. Park over your own drop kerbs, have leaflets, get PCSO out.

If there are double yellows there somewhere, can you get the council to send out a Ticket Inspector? Maybe a few tickets will stop them.

I don't understand why the English schools don't do what is pretty standard here in the US. At my kids' elementary school, the parents organized a "kiss and drop" and a rotation of parents would volunteer to man it. The cars pull up to the curb, the child kisses parents and hops out and a parent volunteer ushers them into the gate of the school and off they go to class and the car drives off. Pickup is a little messier, and slower, but still works.

Pretty much every elementary school that I know of has this system. And in fact, when we lived in London, the Japanese School across the street had the same system (parent volunteers and all) which meant that we rarely had people parking in front of our drive.