I'll start this off by saying I don't have a car..... And rarely get visitors that stay more than a few minutes to pick up/drop off me or DC. And I've lived here 2 years.
My house faces a road into the estate, which has a road off it going all the way round and back to the same road that brings you into the estate. Many of the houses have drives, but people still park on the road. It's a public road with double yellows on the first bit on the way in and then none.
There's a takeaway shop next door to me. The takeaway has a sort of driveway area with enough room for at least 2 cars. Then the road from there to the corner in front of my house maybe 4/5 cars. The pavement right outside my gate is wide enough, and often used, for one car in addition to this.
I've never had an issue, or made an issue of anyone parking wherever because it simply doesn't affect me at all not having a car.
I've had two incidents in the last 6 months with neighbours and parking.
The first was the owner of the takeaway, when my dad had parked not directly in front of the shop, but close - the only place to park. There would have been room in front of my house - but the owner of the takeaway was parked there. He told my dad he couldn't park where he had because his customers needed to. He then followed this up by saying it to me, and complaining about me and DC getting dropped off/picked up taking up parking space for his customers. I pointed out that if his car wasn't outside my gate - on the pavement this time with another car next to it on the road, my dad wouldn't have needed to park where he did and we could get picked up/dropped off outside our gate.
Since then the owner hasn't parked his car either on the pavement or on the road outside my place, he parks on the space/driveway next to the shop. Great.
Now the neighbours opposite have just had a right go at my mum for parking opposite their drive, which is outside the takeaway, because they couldn't swing the car into the drive. He was rude and horrible quite honestly, and as far as I know wrong, by telling my mum she couldn't park there because she's causing an obstruction. It's a public road, and being fair the space in front of my place was taken up by another neighbours car, and there was a delivery wagon for the takeaway, so it was the only place to park at that time.
My mum initially apologised and said oh, if it is in the way again just knock on and I'll move it, to which he replied 'No, just don't park there, you're not allowed to because it causes an obstruction'
My mum then told him she'd parked there as there was no where else and that she can park there with it being a public road and not across his driveway, but again said if they'd asked she'd have moved. At this point the wife is yelling 'Go on! Clear off you horrible woman!' several times.
Mum then just said as long as it was legal she'd park where she wants and he needed a smaller car if he couldn't get on his driveway and drove off.
The man put the car on the drive and the woman was bustling about saying what an awful woman - loud enough for me to hear, and so I said politely
"Excuse me, if my mum's car was in the way all you needed to do was ask and it'd have been moved, wouldn't have been a problem"
She replied "Well she's just a horrible woman and shouldn't park there!"
I said "well, there were several cars here and a van and no where else, and she's my mum, and she'd have moved it if she'd known, there's no need for this carry on"
She replied that I know it's their car and should have known that they wanted to be in, I said that my living room is at the back of the house, and kitchen window to the side, so I can't even see the road from my front room or kitchen, so didn't know.
She waved her hands about shouting fair enough! In a sarcastic and mocking type way, and went in.
Now if it were me parking there all the time, or people coming to me, I could understand the reaction, but as already said, I don't have a car and it's very few and far between that anyone associated with me parks here full stop. Other people do park there though and I can see his annoyance, but also see my mum's pov that it's a public road and that it's not her always causing an 'obstruction' to him getting on/off his drive, literally this is the first time in months she's been there, or anywhere along here, for longer than 5 minutes. My mum was here for 2 hours max, I have no idea how long they waited for her to move, but they had parked behind mum's car where the delivery van had been and been watching from their front window.
My mum has now decided that she's going to annoy him on purpose by parking there when she comes to pick up/drop off/visit. She won't listen to reason and the fact I have to live here.
I feel totally stuck! Neighbours pissed off, mother pissed off and neither listening to reason or agreeing that the whole thing could have been avoided by everyone not being stupid about it!
AIBU to just tell them all to get the fuck on with it because the only person in this, getting it from all sides, that doesn't cause a parking problem is me because I don't even have a car!
Honestly it's like a bunch of children!
I never thought I'd have cause to put a parking thread up - I don't even drive!