I've become a parking wanker - AIBU re school car parking.

[Hidinginthebath]

I bought a house right next to my children's primary school. I thought it was an excellent idea. But now I'm not too sure!

It's a new build and it's in a row of houses. It was wasteland/garages before with no access. It's a cul de sac. The developers built a shiny new road with private car parking spaces for each of the properties on the left of the row and visitor parking for about 2 cars on the right, which is right next to my house. We each pay £500 a year service for maintenance of the common areas, binstore, a back passage way, and the private road.

AIBU to be slightly miffed that school parents are now using it, basically as a schoolcar park? We have told them directly it's a private road and have been met with shrugs and even a 'there's no sign' (it hasn't been put up yet!).

AIBU? Am I a parking wanker? I wouldn't mind so much if it was a public road and I wasn't paying a hefty sum for it (for me, a LP with 3dcs)

It's rarely 5 to 10 minutes.
Parents turn up 30 or more minutes early to bag the prime spots

Cclmsc, they're using spaces that someone else has paid for and has to pay to maintain, and they are preventing the residents from using their own spaces.

I'm prepared to bet it's way more than 5-10 minutes. They've got to park the car, walk to the school, wait for their child to come out, deal with any notes or anything the teacher wants to talk to them about, then walk back to the car, get their child in and seatbelts strapped, before they leave. If they stop to chat to their friends, it'll be even longer.

It's a private road, they're causing extra wear on it when they're not entitled to be using it. As well as taking up residents/visitors spaces. Cheeky fuckers. You definitely need a sign up, OP. In the meantime, would it cause any other residents hassle if you could block the parents?

These people just don't care. There's a college 2 mins walk from my local Sainsbury's. Cue kicking out time, all the disabled bays are full. Of people waiting for their little darlings from college. Sainbo's don't give a toss either. I've seen so many people inconvenienced as a result of this. I've spoken to a couple of the parents to be told "I don't give a fuck what you say".

I'd also park across the whole road, (and sit in my car) obviously move to let residents in but I'd sit and smile like a crackpot at anyone else trying to get past.

Do this!

The parents not CF yet. At the moment, they are parking on a road. Once there's a sign up making it clear they shouldn't, they become CFs. You need to get the developer into that ASAP.

Another vote for parking across the whole road and smirking at their confusion!

In the last year, a few primary schools in my area have got a school exclusion zone around them, so if you lived on the streets surrounding the school, you would get a few permits (for your car and potential visitors). Any cars in the exclusion zone between 2:45 and 3:45 without a permit would get a parking ticket.. which I thought was a fab idea!

As somebody who's previously had to deliver to urban areas (including schools) in a truck it's incredibly frustrating when people park on corners, causing me to have to hold up the entire road until said person moves their car.

I've actually had a police officer tell me "don't about their wing mirrors, they're parked illegally".

don't worry that should've read.

How do your neighbours feel about this situation?

Some amazing ideas, I love MN

I especially like the idea of clamping your own car to deter them.

I think cones would be a great short term answer while you and neighbours conspire work together to resolve the issue

DS's school has the worst parking situation I've seen. I don't know who approved this but they built a school that's entrance is directly at the end of a cul de sac on a really narrow street. Half the street has the yellow no parking because it's a school markings, and then the surrounding streets are just rammed with cars! It honestly couldn't be less practical if they tried.

I feel so sorry for the people who own the houses on that street!!

If there's no sign people won't believe that it's a private road. Local development put electronic gates on to stop parking

My dc old school was a fucking nightmare for this. There was parking out the front and across the street in various places, but people would also park on yellow lines and across drive ways. It made the street so narrow you could only go one way most of the time and would have to sit behind a pile of cars with people yelling and beeping at each other. I don't know how the residents could stand it.

Wait til they have all driven in and parked, then block the entrance to the road (agree with neighbours. Then go to the pub.

Get a sign and bollards (with neighbours permission of course)

YARBU for thinking buying a house near a school is a good idea.

People turn into complete selfish wankers when dropping the DC at school.

I’d look at either bollards or get the residents to employ a parking company like parking eye and let them enforce it.

It’ll be a fucking nightmare for ever unless proper action is taken.

Good luck don’t envy you.

Our school really did try everything...I honestly think they've given up now!! Traffic wardens,kids with clipboards,huge signs...nothing worked. I've seen near misses,fights....I've no idea what they could do....sorry,that's no help!!

Yeah, you need one of those police stingers to roll out across the road. Honestly, I suspect there's very little you can do. I'd probably just take a deep breath and ignore it. Not the easiest advice, but I feel like you're fighting a losing battle.

Electronic gates/barriers/bollards would probably be the best solution. They’d cost money to maintain but it would be worth it to not have to have the stupid people parking everywhere/causing more wear and tear/damaging things.

I’d continue to tell them it’s a private road and then when they ignore you or say they’re parking there anyway I would very obviously take a photo of their car in the space (be careful that they and their kids aren’t in the photo though). Then when they get all het up about this, explain that it’s so that you can report them to the school. People aren’t bothered about general parking issues being reported to the school, but are more likely to be bothered by them as an individual being reported to the school for anti social behaviour during the school run. Good luck on getting the signs

Print out a "private parking - residents only" sign on your computer and get local print shop to laminate it.
Mark your own space with it. (I'm assuming that your spaces are allocated)
Then they are CFs if they park there at least

A sign won’t stop them, they know it’s a private road they won’t give a shit. Don’t go down the private eye parking route they are a pain in the arse. But have seen a huge rise as you can’t clamp anymore.
You need to physically block the entrance. Gates /chains/ cars/ cones/ people.
It needs to be something you can continue as the minute you stop they’ll be back.

My school they just move the cones.
We also have a potty mum, I’ve seen her daughter butt naked on the potty in the boot. (Sadly I was parked opposite!).

You can get signs printed on eBay really reasonably - we had some done for our new build estate to warn cars to drive slowly due to children and pets. I would get some signs made saying it's a private road and also signs for your individual pays and one for the visitors bay. It might help.

We also have a bit of a parking issue, people don't seem to park in designated bays but they park on the road making it difficult for some to park on their own drive. We live in the town centre and near train station but with plenty of paid for spaces near by but of course they would rather use our estate. There isn't too much we can do unfortunately.