My house has a drive that runs next to the side of the house. For some reason the previous owners of the house built a conservatory across half the drive so it is almost impossible to actually get a car onto the drive. I’ve applied for planning permission to widen the driveway as it would involve knocking down part of the garden wall which is over 6foot. Massive backlog with PP at the moment in the area due to CV so not sure when it will actually happen.
The town I live in is very touristy. Parking is a nightmare every summer but this year has been particularly bad due to fewer people going abroad. As a result I’ve often not been able to find anywhere to parks I for the past few weeks I’ve been parking in front of the gap for my driveway. There’s no pavement or dropped kerb, it’s just an opening in the wall. My house is the only one on my side of the street. On the other side are about 6 houses, all with drives, so everyone parks on the side of the street that my house is on.
I come out today to find I can’t actually physically leave my house via my door as there is a car completely across the entrance to my drive. I hadn’t parked there as I only park there when I can’t find anywhere else. I can leave my house via the side door but it’s 20 steps down to the gate at the bottom of the garden, it’s a pain in the arse and very narrow and very often that gate is blocked by a car too. That’s not normally an issue as I don’t normally leave that way.
I put a note on the car parked across the drive saying ‘please don’t park here, access required’. Came back this afternoon to find the car still there and a neighbour from down the road came out to shout at me that I had upset his guests, where did I expect them to park, I was being really selfish in thinking that I had my own personal parking space when it’s a public highway. Luckily another neighbour came out and told angry neighbour that it was just temporary etc as angry neighbour wouldn’t let me get a word in.
So AIBU? I know it’s a public road but I’d never park across someone’s drive. The drives on my road generally only for one car so a lot of houses then park their other car across the dropped kerb. Bit different in my case I guess as I have no dropped kerb and no car on the actual drive. I very occasionally park my car on the drive but I never would at this time of year as if someone even slightly overhangs my drive I’ve got no chance of getting out again.