Driveway

[Edamcheese]

Our neighbours of twelve years had their drive and pathway done ,two yrs ago. But they have now decided that because their bins have to be dragged up some steps on their property ,it is now inconvenient ,and are now using our driveway. They have never asked us if we mind,but it’s our private property . We have always been friends and they must assume we don’t mind.But it’s winding me up, but we don’t want a confrontation as this would finish our friendship,and why should we be made to feel that we are petty. We have given many hints ,that we have parked our cars in a way that it’s difficult for them to walk up our drive. But it’s inconvenient for us to keep moving our cars. She has told us that she choose to live there as there was no issues with shared driveways when she purchased her house,as she is adamant that it would not suit her but she is cheekily sharing our driveway, but we don’t our driveway used as a shared driveway either as we don’t want our cars damaged.

What i'd do, bearing mind your.... in your twilight years - not old of course

I love how no-one is ever old on MN.

Excellent diagram OP.

The only thing you can do, if you don't want to ask them specifically, is to plant some plants at intervals all the way along the edge of your lawn, with gaps in between smaller than a wheelie bin.

I know the easiest thing to do would be to say something, but with so many people saying they couldn't get het up about it, I'd worry it would sound pathetic/petty, though it would bug me too.

Someone took a shortcut across my driveway to deliver a takeaway to the next door house last night and it irritated me!

have stopped being annoyed..I just wanted to get peoples opinion ,and yes its not worth getting upset about pig ignorant people who are utterly selfish and are greedy and just take what they want even if it doesn’t belong to them

wow. The woman walks two mins over your drive weekly. Does no damage. And for this you call her pig ignorant, greedy, taking something that doesn’t belong to her? And this is you unannoyed?

good lord. That’s hugely vicious and uncalled for.

Clearly OP you are furious about this, judging by your OTT "ignorant pig" rant. I have no idea why because it is literally not one millimetre of skin off your nose. But you go ahead. Silently seethe and make yourself unhappy that way, or confront it and lose the friendship of good neighbours over a total non-issue. You decide 🤷‍♀️

I'd be annoyed about this. You do need to tell your neighbors to stop though! A fence would ensure it doesn't continue. If they are your friends then you should be able to tell them no.
You don't need to go into reasons why. If they push, then play it back to them: don't you think it is weird to be using my property? Would you like it if I crossed your garden to put my bins out?

Don't get emotional or petty. Just be clear that it's not acceptable, and if they don't stop you will need to erect a fence.

If all else fails, coax a seagull into their bin with bread or chips then close the lid.
retire to a safe distance.
Make your favorite hot drink, pull up a chair and just wait for the show when they pop out the put something inside.

I think I would be tempted to drag my bins through their garden tbh. I know it's steps but it would be worth it. If they ask what you are doing just tell them that you thought this is what was happening now. Make sure you wheel close to their cars.
Or put up one of those cute little fences.

My view is that people must be willing to communicate. People are not mind-readers and everyone does not start from the exact same understanding of what is reasonable/unreasonable/cheery etc.

In my view, it’s worse to seethe silently and feel like your neighbours are ‘pig ignorant’ than to bite the bullet and say a few quick words about it.

I wonder if perhaps you generally don’t communicate and chat to them and things aren’t as friendly as you suggest and that’s putting you off.

A light hearted chat whilst in the garden about the weather or other local stuff, followed by a light and airy ‘Oh, and while I see you, can I just mention something? We’d really prefer it if you didn’t pull your bins up and down our driveway - it just makes us anxious about the cars. I’m sure you understand’. And then revert to talking about the weather/their kids or whatever.

Grown-ups can manage this kind of brief comment. We should all expect to have to say stuff like this occasionally through the course of life. It’s daft to think to yourself ‘they should just know and I shouldn’t have to say anything’. Clearly they don’t know you hate it so much…..,so simply tell them. It doesn’t have to ruin the relationship, turn into a big debate or big deal. Most people are perfectly able of hearing something like this without being terribly offended. A brief passing comment will sort it out in most circumstances.

If you’re not willing to say something, you need to get over it and accept it and move on. It doesn’t sound like you’ll do that though, so it would be better to bite the bullet and say something.