Neighbours and parking

[rainbowheart]

I've lived on the same street for 20 years, buying my childhood home when my parents sold it.
The house is down a narrowish lane and I'm the very end house. There's a pull in which makes it easier for myself and my neighbours to get off of our drives.
For as long as I've know there's always been an agreement that people will avoid parking in the pull in wherever possible, because if 2 cars are parked there it's very difficult for me and my neighbour to get out, we have to reverse about half a mile down the lane if we cant turn in the turning point. It only effects our 2 houses, everyone else can exit their drives fine.
Sometimes it's unavoidable and that's fine, if people are having lots of guests over etc, workmen to their houses.. things happen.
The house next to my neighbours house was sold 3 months back.. new people moved in. My neighbour explain the parking situation and they said it was no problem. And for the first few months everything was as it had always been,
One day my baby took ill and I had to call an ambulance.. the ambulance parked on the lane in-front of my house blocking my neighbour, my husband rushed home and parked behind the ambulance, blocking the new neighbours driveway.
The new neighbours knocked the door asking for the car to move, the ambulance driver explained baby was poorly and asked if they could just hold fire and she'd get my husband to move the car. 10 mins later she knocked again the ambulance driver apologised and said she'd get it moved,
My husband went to move the car and the new neighbour said it's about time she was going to be late.
There's a lot of old people who live down our lane and ambulances are fairly common, when it happens, especially further down the lane, everyone is blocked in, never have I moaned in that situation, even when it's meant I've been late or missed appointments, surly that ambulance is likely to be far more important than anything I need to do at that time,
Since the day I called the ambulance the new neighbours now park both their cars in the pull in, leaving their driveway empty I feel this is really petty and pathetic. I've knocked and asked if they could park at least one car on their drive as before, the woman said she's entitled to park her car wherever she likes, obviously she is.. but would you not also be considerate of your neighbours?
For the last 2 weeks 2 cars arrive every morning at 6am, they move their cars from the pull in and the other cars park there.. the 2 drivers get into the van with the difficult neighbour and I assume go to work, she parks her car on her drive.. when they get home from work the 2 cars go and the move both their cars to the pull in so the turning point always has 2 cars parked in it, day and night.

What are you views on this situation? As I've said I do get she can park her car wherever she likes, I just don't understand why they insist on making it difficult. I don't know if I'm just being touchy because it all started when my baby was poorly and maybe I'm being too emotional about it? Any ideas on how to resolve it?

No matter how it's always been done its not their responsibility to solve your turning issues with the way your property is designed. They are behaving perfectly lawfully and have made it quite clear they'd prefer it if you all stopped hassling them.

Well, we don’t know if they’re “behaving perfectly lawfully” because we don’t know how the turning space/parking spots (depending on your POV) are designated. And presumably neither do they, if we’re speculating here, as the above post, because surely if having the extra 2 spaces for a van to park up was vital they’d have checked the parking situation with the sellers and discovered that actually it’s a turning space for the end houses.

OP, sounds like you were reasonable. If your whole street is on side to complain then hopefully you’ll get a quick resolution on having it marked as a turning space.

How weird to have a big empty drive yet use that spot to park in instead. OP they're unreasonable twats - try the council if not I'd start being unreasonable back until they got the hint. She sounds batshit.

You can’t say ‘other than the colleagues cars’ though as that’s quite a pantomime they’ve organized there! Solely to make the lives of their neighbours more difficult

I am prepared to have a smidgen if sympathy for the female neighbour, though - if it’s her husband and workmates with the van, but she’s the one everyone talks to about the situation, she might feel a bit bullied in all sides about it. Perhaps her DH is adamant he’s not stopping?

Regardless, they have a driveway for parking, so they could be more neighbourly.

If someone pointed out to you that one of your habits was causing them real problems, wouldn’t you try to change if you could, especially if it was clear the other person didn’t have any options to change their circumstances?

Why should the colleagues get to park their cars on someone elses street for an entire day? When they could park them on the neighbours drive? Why would you move to a street presuming that your colleagues could park for entire days on it without consideration of their neighbours? If they wanted a house with loads of parking they should have bought a house with a huge drive. When you move to a house surely you try to compromise with your neighbours and try to work out solutions to make it so you can all live happily next to each other. My neighbour has 2 work vans they manage to park these without disrupting the rest of the street.

I did agree that the current behaviour with the colleagues, etc is cuntish, but from OP's recent post to me it appears to be an escalation to prove OP and her friends do not own the street and get to dictate how everyone else parks in a perfectly legal to park in shared space. If you want it to be no parking contact the council.

Op says ambulance driver said car would be moved in 10 mins, it wasn't, so neighbours had to knock again....

Yes, and then, if I've read correctly, the OP's baby began fitting, so moving the car wasn't a top priority.

If the neighbours were simply parking their own cars there (despite having a drive of their own), then while still unreasonable it wouldn't be quite as shitty as what they're currently doing. Ensuring the turning space is blocked at all times in quite a calculated way.

They sound like a pair of entitled twats not even remotely tolerant.

Wonder what will happen when they're prevented from getting out again when the neighbour down the street requires medical attention, ambulances and fire engines. I suspect show themselves up for the vile arseholes they are.

The ambulance wasn't blocking in the neighbours though- it was her husbands car. Which they said they'd move, didn't, and we're asked to again. If it was the ambulance, then absolutely they would have no leg to stand on. They have very little leg to stand on given that your husband wanted to get in quickly to support you, but maybe if you acknowledge that your husband did make her late, and that it was an all round stressful situation. Then things may improve again? They were ameanable initially to not parking there- so they dont object in theory to it, although given that it is used by your guests to park there, or workmen etc intermittently, it doesn't sound like trying to get it rezones as no parking will work for you. I'd start with an apology. You have to live there and the ambulance wasn't the issue. If you get nowhere, then maybe the work to the garden is the way forward, as falling as that would be.

I wonder if they've updated their car insurance. They would have told them they had off road parking and that the cars are parked on the driveway. But they actually leave their cars parked on the highway overnight.

For all the hassle it's caused and continuing to cause you, and as much as everyone on mumsnet loves a parking drama, I'd take the higher ground. Get them a bottle of wine, some chocolates, flowers, all the above (a hamper?) whatever. Apologise to them, say, things have got off on the wrong foot, you're going to be living beside each other for a long time and really don't want to fall out and you hope the parking situation can be resolved amicably. These kind of people often thrive on conflict and killing them with kindness is sometimes the only way to deal with them. If it doesn't work then by all means pursue a more official line - solicitors, the council or whatever but for the sake of avoiding reversing half a mile down the road every time you want to enter and exit the property then I'd suck it up and try and get them back on side.

Apologise to them, say, things have got off on the wrong foot, you're going to be living beside each other for a long time and really don't want to fall out and you hope the parking situation can be resolved amicably.

But, the OP has just done pretty much exactly that and the neighbor told her to get lost.

If all else fails, the OP should consider installing a car turntable on her drive.

Just read your update Op - I think you need to get your neighbours to all contact the council separately & hopefully they'll do something about it if there are enough complaints.

I.think it's either needed as a turning circle, in which case you get it marked up by the council and nobody ever parks there, or it isn't and you plus the nice neighbours get your driveways redone (is everyone else's driveway done so they can turn?). Given the width of the road, it looks like it makes sense for it to be a turning circle. Your guests will have to park on your drive or park elsewhere and walk up.

The new neighbours are obviously twats, you won't change that by giving them flowers / discussing nicely the finer points of reversing.

Could you put a gate across the road? Padlock it and give everyone a key except them. Even if it's just temporary until they adjust their attitude.

Penguin bollards!
Do it!

Oh yes, bonus points if the new gates block their driveway when open!

What happened next OP?

Why do people like this exist? Are they some kind of evolutionary mistake? So sorry you're on the receiving end of it.

Have you managed to resolve the issue or are they still being twats

@rainbowheart