School parking police

[CheekyFuckersAreEntertaining]

Our local primary is very small. There's no parking allowed at the front but there a small public street with 4 one bed houses to the side. None have drives but one tenant parks on the wide pavement that has a dropped kerb outside her house. Parents do not park on "her" pavement.
There are 4 spaces in front of the remaining 3 houses, away from hers. Only one owns a car and has their own disabled bay which no one ever uses but her. The only time the other 3 spaces get used is the school run when the right hand side of the road, opposite the houses is full.
At some point many years ago someone erected a sign saying residents parking, however, there are no bays and no permits. It's a public road.

Of course parents are parking there on the school run as you'd expect and they always have done, long before the houses were even built. The thing is, for some reason, Crazy Lady Pavement Parker is getting really angry about it, ranting and raving at people, saying "Ere, is this your car? You can't park here! We pay rent for our houses!" She's there most days bang on 3pm telling people to clear off.

The other residents however don't actually give a shit. They don't drive (one is a friend and knows her neighbours) and are well used to people parking there.

She's got to the point where she's upsetting some children. Her parking is not being inconvenienced in any way at all and neither is any body else's. WIBU to tell her to shut the hell up? Do the council provide road plans that show that it's a public road so I can tell her to zip it and leave everyone alone?

(Just to add, parking further away is possible but very inconvenient as it's almost 99% driveways and householder's cars take up the other spaces so you'd have a fair old trek to find the nearest parking spots.)

Please bear in mind, this isn't a debate on whether people should walk to school, this is for those parents who for whatever reason, drive. Many live outside the village so walking to school isn't a viable option. Parking on a public road by the school is not a problem for anyone except for Crazy lady Pavement Parker. Is there anything we can do?

Well, I can sort of see both sides. I bet people do park in “her” pavement and in the space used by the disabled neighbour. They would round my school. I have heard about parents saying such awful things to residents so I can understand her getting upset. But it obviously isn’t on to be abusive.

I am on the other side of this situation. I live near a school. The parents park anywhere on both sides of the road. They park in Disabled bays. They don't keep their children walking on the pavement. When they are putting their children into their car seats they have the door wide open on the road side of their car meaning traffic has to stop while the child is being strapped in.
Do parents of children ever think how residents feel about having their street taken over by people who think their child's needs take over the free running of a public road. I wonder if they would even move for a clue light emergency vehicle because they have no shame in blocking everyone else.
Why do parents not put the child in the car from the safe/pavement side and reach over? Child safe and road is not blocked would go a long way to soothe local feelings.
I have children at school. Various nurseries and schools and never caused a blockage and did reach over to put my child in from the safe side.

You'll only see her during the few minutes when you're parking. You won't witness all the time, at 9am and again at 3pm, when a parent blocks the disabled space, or two parents double park, and block the road, or someone drives up onto the pavement to park and blocks the pavement for the residents.

If she's actually being abusive and causing a public nuisance then inform the police. But I bet she has a shitload of photographic evidence of inconsiderate parking by school parents. The police will hopefully come down on that, as well as on her behaviour.

I once bought a house one street away from a school, with dreams of my kids only having a one minute walk each way. I had to sell it - it was that or end up imprisoned. The amount of parents who were totally inconsiderate, and trilled "but I'll only be 5 minutes", without any thought to how other people did the same thing in the same place, twice a day, every day.

She is being a ridiculous melodramatic nimby. Want a house away from a school? Rent a fecking house away from a school or put in for a transfer to another HA/ council flat. Hey presto! No more parking wars. I have one absolute rule in life and that is that anyone who ever expresses anger or vitriol that someone has parked outside their house on a public highway is dead to me. In the absence of mental ill health. Small minded, unailing, willing to see the worst in other people. Every. Last. One.

YABU

I have a school at the end of my road and it is a nightmare and really posses me off how inconsiderate the parents are. They start parking up as early as 2pm, park across drives and our road is blocked twice a day. In the afternoon it goes on for around 30 minutes so we have to avoid going out at that time of day. We recently had pavements being resurfaced and they were all so angry, queuing and blasting their horns because they had to wait and couldn't get so close to the school.

She is being unreasonable but if it’s anything like our school street it does get horrendous at 3.15. I know you said they can’t park on the next street but is there any real reason (apart from disability) why they can’t park a few streets away? At our school they all try and get in the very small street leading up to the school and there are several streets within walking distance with no cars. I live a few streets away from our school and takes approx 5 mins to walk to school. People could park in my street but they don’t because they have to get super close it’s ridiculous

Oh god this is our small village school!! Honestly, I never, ever see anyone blocking driveways or parking in them but my husband was chased last week for reversing 2 metres up a driveway to turn around (very long driveway, no one at all trying to leave). She must stand at her window to run out at 3pm. I honestly don’t know how people buy houses by schools and then go nuts. There’s going to be congestion for 15 mins twice a day. I cannot possibly walk as I have 2 school runs (4 children all at different schools) 3 miles apart. But I will always park further away so I’m nowhere near any ‘sensitive’ spots, I think 99% of parents do the same don’t they?
I personally wouldn’t shout at her unless she’s very in your face and then I’d have a quiet word telling her you are not at all obstructing her driveway so she needs to back off.

It's a very small village, I spend quite a lot of time around that area as I'm heavily involved with the school and live nearby. I actually only drive and park there when we are heading somewhere immediately after. (Also, as mentioned, my friend lives in one of the 4 houses, I know that no one is being inconvenienced, not even crazy lady). No one parks on or blocks the pavement or the whole road would be blocked. And the disabled space is almost constantly occupied by the disabled resident's car. We're talking cobwebs on it these days.

The cars and children cause absolutely no disruption to the residents there. No drives to be blocked, it's not a through road, the only traffic is the school parents. The rest of the day it's empty other than the disabled person's car and the one on the pavement.

My question is, what do we do to stop her hurling abuse at parents that aren't doing anything to her or her neighbours. Public roads are for use of the public. As much as I'd love to mark out my little patch of road outside my house for my exclusive use, I can't, just like no one else has a right to stop legally parked cars parking on their street.

Is she actually abusive? Threatening? If so, she can be reported to the police non-emergency number. If she's just annoyed neighbour because people are harassing her by parking over her drive etc, maybe parents could be spoken to?

If you have a local police officer ask them about it. In my dreams they still exist but i suspect they don't. I wish we could have the American system of school buses.

I think (note think!) that you can actually call whatever the local community police number is and they can go around and talk to her about disturbing the peace. I know a friend a few years ago that had a neighbour that would shout at the local children because she lives opposite a very small park and complained they made noise, she was actually pretty vile to the children. The community officers actually went around and spoke to her and said if she did it again she would have to be served a caution (or similar) for disturbing the peace. She stopped. Not sure there are any community police left though!!

Ah, crosses posts with people who had the same answer!!

Congestion is to be expected at school in and out times. That is not the real problem with living near a school. The problem is the conduct of the parents who will not be considerate of the residents. These parents think they are only going to be a minute or two but often much longer. Parents do arrive up to 1 hour early.
Congestion is fine for a short time, ignorant and selfish uncaring behaviour is not at all mannerly. What is such behaviour teaching the children? When some schools were built children walked to school and parents rarely arrived in cars to collect them. Times have changed but life near a school still goes on.

By continuing with parking to annoy this lady the parents are showing themselves as entitled wannabes

I live opposite a school. I expect congestion but I do not expect my driveway to be blocked by several different people at multiple times a day when I need to get out or in with my own children who also need to go to school. The ignorance and lack of respect is astounding. I've had people park in my driveway, arguments with people who are trying to block me in when I'm trying to leave, teachers/staff parking all day partially blocking my access... I can understand her annoyance. However, I regularly communicate with the head and also the council, the council regularly send parking enforcement officers round to ticket.

Why does she have a dropped kerb if she has no driveway?

User I disagree. If no one is blocking her driveway or restricting traffic in any way (as op has said) then why can’t a parent park in her road? Could be a parent, a delivery van, Tesco, etc. If it’s not on her dirveway how on earth does it affect her?
If a parent is parking across a driveway, or very close, or on a bend or restricting traffic then they are totally out of order and I totally agree. It doesn’t seem they are in this case though so it’s just someone who (IMO) lines to have a good moan.

She sounds a bit crazy and there's probably no reasoning with her. I'd be a bit PA and loudly mutter, 'Oh look there's the lady that yells at people for parking legally on a public road. Children, just ignore her and remember that she's an example of how not to behave.'

But I will always park further away so I’m nowhere near any ‘sensitive’ spots, I think 99% of parents do the same don’t they?

No they don't tbh.

Ok, some people are inconsiderate, maybe more than 1% !! You are right. But the OP definitely doesn’t sound like she’s doing anything wrong,
I like the loud whispering of ‘there’s the rude lady’ suggested.

@FoxyRoxy I suspect the dropped kerb was part of the building process and is for wheelchair access as these houses or something. It's a chunk of pavement that is about 8-10ft wide and the dropped kerb runs the length of the building's side (20ft?). The houses were originally assisted living type houses but are let to anyone now.
The "pavement" doesn't resemble a drive at all except for the fact there's a car plonked on it.

Perhaps it's only her parking illegally on that street. I'd love to know for sure so I could point that fact out.

Access to these houses

@CheekyFuckersAreEntertaining your local council could probably tell you, although I suspect as no access to a driveway is being blocked by anyone parking over "her" dropped kerb then all she's doing is being a public nuisance, as someone above pointed out. She sounds like she needs a hobby!