AIBU to park my car here?

[Ravenclawsome]

We moved into our current house a couple of years ago.

The set up is quite strange in that for some houses our drives are "split", with the public footpath in between.

This is not the case for houses that front straight onto the road, but only for those of us with landscaping areas between the house and the road.

We have a main drive, then the public footpath, then a bit that runs through the bushes to allow vehicular access to the road.

In all cases these extra sections are on the deeds as owned, rather than a ROW and some people pave them to match the rest of their drive.
Ours is not paved (just the original tarmac with edging blocks) and is wide enough to easily fit a car, though we don't usually park there.

We live on a corner so cars cannot be parked on the road outside without it being dangerous.

It quickly became apparent after we moved in that our lower drive is used as a shortcut by pedestrians coming from a footpath opposite. We have no problem with this.

They cross the road at a diagonal and cross the drive to the footpath as it's a shorter route and wider pavement than the other side.

This is all for background. But my AIBU is this.

We have had a major leak in the bathroom. The entire thing has to be ripped out, dried and redone.

The insurance company has provided a massive mobile bathroom for us.

But it's on the main drive and I cannot fit my car on there too.
So for the past couple of weeks (and for the foreseeable future) I have been parking on the lower drive. The car fits entirely on our owned section between the bushes and is not impeding the public footpath between the two sections.

This means pedestrians cannot currently use it as a shortcut and I've had a fair few people make nasty comments and complaints about how I shouldn't block the "path" - essentially they've come to think of that section as a public path.

So am I being the unreasonable one here?

Diagram included as it's parking thread law.

Will you need to/can you pull your car onto your main drive area whilst the mobile bathroom is there? If not then you can make use of some of the suggestions about blocking off and signs given here just for now surely?

@Leftbutcameback

Not the point I know, but I had no idea you could get mobile bathrooms to hire! We struggled when we had ours redone as no other loo or facilities in the house. Does it have a shower as well?

Yup, full shower and everything. Dodn't use the loo as have a downstairs one and popping outside all the time is a PITA. Don't think they are cheap though. Ours is being covered by the insurance.

Will you need to/can you pull your car onto your main drive area whilst the mobile bathroom is there?

Can't fit both on the drive. Car overhangs the footpath if I try.

To be clear, I really don't care about people using it as a path if it's clear.

But pedestrians moaning (and a couple leaving notes on the windscreen) when I need it is hacking me off.

I wasn’t suggesting you put your car on the main drive OP.

The. I'm confused as to what you were suggesting as I've reread that five times and can't fathom how I've misinterpreted it.

I'd be tempted to put notes on my car stating that it's parked on private land, not a path.

Please note, my car is parked on my private land. Just as with other neighbouring houses, this land forms part of my garden and is NOT part of the footpath.

You might not mind pedestrians crossing your land until someone starts to claim a right if way over it, which would devalue your home.

Can you stop this from happening by putting a chain across your lower drive with a padlock & sign saying ‘private property - no access, footpath this way’?

@TooBored1

I'd be tempted to put notes on my car stating that it's parked on private land, not a path.

Please note, my car is parked on my private land. Just as with other neighbouring houses, this land forms part of my garden and is NOT part of the footpath.

this

Polite and points out they’ve been crossing your land

Copy the land registry map, add a note saying "normally we don't mind you using our drive as a shortcut, but while our bathroom is being repaired we need to park on this part of our drive." Leave it in your front windscreen.

I agree with PP about putting a note on your car explaining that you are parked on your own property and when the temp bathroom is removed put a permanent demarcation so that people can no longer use it.

@lanthanum

Copy the land registry map, add a note saying "normally we don't mind you using our drive as a shortcut, but while our bathroom is being repaired we need to park on this part of our drive." Leave it in your front windscreen.

Don't say people can use your land without checking very carefully with a solicitor! You might create a right that would make things very difficult in future/should you want to sell.

You need to nip the complaints in the bud. Every single time. As soon as someone says something you let them know it's part of your drive.

I'd be tempted to actually stick a sign up! Not a rude one, but perhaps along the lines of 'as you can see I've had to park on the other part of my drive. Sorry if this means you can no longer shot cut across my property, I'm sure you understand!'.

This set up is quite common in my area and typically involves a space of 4-6 feet between path and road which is grassed and planted with trees, but the typical set-up is for the area between the garden wall and the road to be wholly publicly owned (ie council or highways agency) and the homeowner has a right of access over this land to reach their property. The homeowner is responsible for the maintenance of the drive for their own benefit.

One main road nearby has a very large space where, outside the garden wall, is a 5ft path, 30ft "green" space and another 5ft path before the road. The reason is that when the houses were built, there was the possibility in the future that the main road would be converted to a dual carriageway. The houses are now about 70 years old and there is still no prospect of a dual carriageway. Residents on this road use the drive outside their property for parking, but only when their own drive is full.

YAJBU, I think you need a permanent solution to stop people using it as a path.

Don't say people can use your land without checking very carefully with a solicitor! You might create a right that would make things very difficult in future/should you want to sell.

💯 agreed

I think another pp mentioned a chain across the drive. You could do that as you can easily take it down when you access the other part. You can hang a sign on it midway “private drive, no short cut access” “private drive, not a footpath” or something similar.

You need to tell complainers that they are using your private property without your permission as a shortcut to get to the public footpath. Complete with Google map picture highlighting the entire actual footpath and its entry and exit points.

Yanbu at all to park on your own property.

I would buy two of these signs and install them horizontally into the ground (drill out a couple of small holes with a masonry drill and set them in with bolts into a little bit of comcrete) at the two opposite corners of the driveway section that people try to use. They can cope with diverting their walking route by a few metres and have no right to use your land as a short cut.

Could you clear an area in the bushes to the right of where you park, so people can still get through ?

Ignore notes. Respond to comments with a firm "this is a continuation of my drive and is private land" conversation closed.

I think you need to stop people using it by use of a sign or get some advice.

Because after so many years of them having access it will become a public ROW and it will be troublesome to sell.

We are in Scotland where it's not quite as simple as people using it with the permission of the landowner for it to become a ROW.

@icedcoffees

As long as you're not blocking the footpath, it's fine.

You're under no obligation to keep an unofficial shortcut free for people to use.

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Who owns the bushes?

As if it is the council I would suggest asking them to put a path across one of them to create a crossing point for pedestrians.