Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

10 YEAR PARKING DISPUTE WITH NEIGHBOUR.

419 replies

eastafricanomad · 01/02/2023 17:23

Hi all,

I need some serious advice. I'm probably writing this in the heat of the moment so please ignore any theatrics. Let me break it down...

We've lived in this property for about 17 years. Our charming neighbour moved in on our tenth year. She is our attached neighbour on the right hand side. We all have allocated parking - what is the problem you ask?

See the thing is, we live in a cul-de-sac. Every house has an allocated parking spot and we have several visitor spots (families with multiple cars use these visitor spots as permanent parking spots and it doesn't appear to be an issue with anyone including me). My neighbour, has an allocated parking spot at the back of her house, but due to her mobility issues - she parks in front of her house on a public highway - again, no issues with this.

There is still space for another vehicle to be able to park directly parallel to her with no issues of blocking her car or her house. Yet she has proceeded to block off this empty potential parking space because she doesn't want anyone 'parking in front of her house' - bear in mind, this is a public highway. No one can reserve rights to a public highway.

Living in a cul-de-sac, naturally parking is tight despite the allocated spots we have. Households do sometimes have more than one vehicle and everyone else on the street is incredibly understanding.

However, this woman, has proceeded to put CONES! In an empty slot on the public highway, not reserving it for any reason as she has one car. No daily visitors - her sole reason is 'I don't want anyone parking in front of my house' (???) ITS A PUBLIC HIGHwaaaaay. Anyway.

Now that we are adding a vehicle to our household, this has only really started to irritate me now. We've ignored her a long time, DESPITE her harassing anyone that parks there. She has harassed my family, construction workers, delivery drivers - you name it! I'm at my wits ends. The straw that broke the camels back was this week, when we had a lovely gentleman come out from Hillary's to do measurements for my blinds. She left a note on his car and yelled at him when he left my property.

I've spoken to the local council, they have confirmed - no one can reserve rights to a public highway. I've spoken to the police, they have confirmed - this is illegal. I've sought legal advice, again - confirmed my perspective.

What on earth do I do with these cones? We work 7 days a week in my household, and coming home after a long shift, moving cones to park my car is proving tiresome! It's not even the inconvenience, its the AUDACITY!

Am I being unreasonable? What would you suggest? What would you do with these cones? I want to put them in my boot and dump them 500 miles from my house. Any advice on this issue would be helpful.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Buttonjugs · 03/02/2023 13:03

£1700 for blinds for 2 windows! 🤯

Stewball01 · 03/02/2023 14:46

I was also going to say pget a legal letter sent. I did that once. The brother of a work colleage took some material to make curtains for my dc bedroom but
I however much I asked he never brought them back until I sent a legal letter from a solicitor friend and miracle of miracles the curtains were returned.
Will the police not talk to her face to face?

mg2397 · 03/02/2023 14:56

Wait until she's out and put the cones in her spot. If you've got time I'd fill them with something nice and heavy too so they're a pain to move. She sounds like an absolute pain in the bum.

Pearlygates · 03/02/2023 15:11

Toomuchtrouble4me · 02/02/2023 22:34

I LOVE THIS! 🤣🤣🤣

Show quote history

STOP IT @Summerfun54321 😂😂😂

Myhydrangeachangedcolour · 03/02/2023 15:33

@ScroogeMcDuckling

Obviously this woman is completely in the wrong and has a suitable parking space and needs to stop harassing people

But, it is really difficult to get disabled parking spots in front of your house- we have two wheelchair users here with blue badges and a child with a blue badge, so 3 blue badges in the household and we can’t have a disabled space because our neighbour has one.

You can’t have one put in within a certain radius of an existing one because technically if you have a badge you can use any disabled space. When I pointed out to the council that if we start using our neighbours a)it wouldn’t help because it is across the road and there isn’t a dropped curb and b) our neighbour wouldn’t be able to use it and he also actually needs it they said hard luck.

Englishash · 03/02/2023 15:35

Can you not treat them as 'lost property' and hand them in to the police station ? You keep finding them in your cul de sac cluttering up the road. I would. Maybe the police will get fed up and go an talk to this lunatic woman when they can't move for knock-off traffic cones...

Fluffmum · 03/02/2023 15:39

Make the council send her a warning letter.

Englishash · 03/02/2023 15:42

Has she got a flat roof? Put 'em up there.

bellabasset · 03/02/2023 15:44

Do you remember the man engine in Cornwall? How about a giant cone man!

Kevsvh79 · 03/02/2023 16:04

I would actually go against most of the advice on here. DO NOT remove or touch the cones - someone this unhinged may try reporting you for theft.

Instead, take pictures and/video of the cones, and of her harassing and shouting at those parking there, and report to the police for harassment and bullying, she may even end up with an ASBO or similar if you can prove an ongoing campaign. Do you/she own the properties or is it rented from a housing association/council? If the latter, report her to them too.

nopuppiesallowed · 03/02/2023 18:18

How about replacing each one with an ice cream cone...?

CrescentMoons · 03/02/2023 18:23

eastafricanomad · 02/02/2023 21:03

@CrescentMoons Omg, message me! I would make you the BEST Somali tea you have ever had in your life.

Pm me your address and let me know if the cones are there on Sunday afternoon and I’ll try to come and take a 👀!

CrescentMoons · 03/02/2023 18:23

CrescentMoons · 03/02/2023 18:23

Pm me your address and let me know if the cones are there on Sunday afternoon and I’ll try to come and take a 👀!

Show quote history

Might be able to do tomorrow but depends on workload!

breatheinskipthegym · 03/02/2023 19:21

Myhydrangeachangedcolour · 03/02/2023 15:33

@ScroogeMcDuckling

Obviously this woman is completely in the wrong and has a suitable parking space and needs to stop harassing people

But, it is really difficult to get disabled parking spots in front of your house- we have two wheelchair users here with blue badges and a child with a blue badge, so 3 blue badges in the household and we can’t have a disabled space because our neighbour has one.

You can’t have one put in within a certain radius of an existing one because technically if you have a badge you can use any disabled space. When I pointed out to the council that if we start using our neighbours a)it wouldn’t help because it is across the road and there isn’t a dropped curb and b) our neighbour wouldn’t be able to use it and he also actually needs it they said hard luck.

I’m really sorry, that seems a really unfair rule.

I think there might be a red herring though. The neighbour parks on the public road, in a space close to her house that is convenient to her. That isn’t the problem (and OP isn’t saying it is) the problem is that the neighbour is using cones to make a further space unavailable. Not for a partner or visitor’s car, but just because she doesn’t want people parking outside her house.

So the neighbour, with one car, is taking up 3 parking spaces. Her own allocated space, a space on the road for her car, and an additional space on the road just to prevent people parking outside her house.

Myhydrangeachangedcolour · 03/02/2023 19:25

@breatheinskipthegym oh I know, it isn’t relevant to this situation, it’s just the other poster brought up disabled spaces so I mentioned it. Didn’t mean to derail the thread!

breatheinskipthegym · 03/02/2023 19:40

@Myhydrangeachangedcolour Sorry, didn’t mean to come across like I was policing you. It was a bit of a garbled post on my part - not you that was missing part of the issue! :)

ClareyG77 · 03/02/2023 20:41

We've had the same problem with our twatty neighbour, instead of using cones he parks his van at the end of our driveway to make it hard for us to get on & off, I've never met a person like him before he's an absolute arse

Ddot · 03/02/2023 21:22

Are the cones proper heavy duty ones, I cant lift them how does she being disabled and all. I know they are different disabled people but if she cant walk from her designated parking spot how can she lift those brutes

T1Dmama · 04/02/2023 02:33

I’d remove them and return to the council since they have false stickers on, for them to dispose of. If she approaches you say ‘oh I called the council and asked them if they were theirs and they said they shouldn’t be there so I returned them’…. State that when you returned them the council had thanked you and told you that the cones had been illegally dumped in the road and asked you to report any future flytipping / blocking of the highway as it was illegal activity!!

T1Dmama · 04/02/2023 02:41

ClareyG77 · 03/02/2023 20:41

We've had the same problem with our twatty neighbour, instead of using cones he parks his van at the end of our driveway to make it hard for us to get on & off, I've never met a person like him before he's an absolute arse

I got blocked in a space once… I calmly stood and took photos of the vehicle… the owner who thought I would just go round knocking doors politely asking who the van belonged to soon came running out when he saw me snapping pics of his van and close ups of his number plate 😂
when he came out I casually said ‘That’s good timing I was just about to call the police’…
Blocking you from getting off your drive is actually illegal, so call the police next time. Unfortunately blocking you from getting on your drive is only a civil dispute… next time he blocks your drive park on his! (As long as you don’t block a vehicle access to the highway)

Thirdsummerofourdiscontent · 04/02/2023 02:58

Return them to the local council or just throw them in her front yard.

TeaFagsand · 04/02/2023 10:43

bigbluebus · 01/02/2023 17:35

Can't the police send a PCSO around to have a word with her especially if she is harassing people who park legally.

This would be a totally reasonable course of action. Remind them of her aggression.

And make sure that the cones keep disappearing overnight. I find that they stack rather nicely but only after being photographed. If yne police get arsey make sure you keep a log with photos and hopefully recordings to boost your case.

Good luck.

NattyNatashia · 04/02/2023 11:28

Obviously you can't stop people parking on the highway, just move the cones. You might have a conversation about using her allocated space to avoid the need to park on the road, but only if this suits you. Personally I'd prefer to be parked off road.

Blokegarget · 04/02/2023 21:14

I fell your pain OP.

deifnetly have some sort of camera / cctv if possible before you start parking there. You don’t know if this will escalate into damaging cars/ criminal damage.

if your neighbour escalates it’s easy to try and march their demeanour and it escalates further.

a man on a nearby estate got murdered over a parking spot a couple of years ago. You can google it , it’s in Gloucestershire… they had a court order not to use it. And the day it expired someone parked there. And one neighbour went on a rampage with a knife. Ended a fathers life over a parking spot. What a waste.

not suggesting your neighbour is capable, but a piece of tarmac or metal with wheels is far less valuable than your life 🤗

completely sympathise though! Estates planners these days seem to enjoy forcing people into parking disputes due lack of space.

mid go with remove cones and drop off at council though if it were me especially if council stickers on.

MarvellousMonsters · 05/02/2023 08:46

eastafricanomad · 01/02/2023 20:31

@Puckthemagicdragon OK, after popular demand. Here is my diagram!

This is beautiful. Thank you Flowers

Swipe left for the next trending thread