To think that you can’t just close a road like this!

[RoadClosed]

Came home from work a few weeks ago (2:30pm) and our road had “road closed” signs on it. Highly unusual as it’s a quiet one way street with a couple of cul-de-sacs leading off it. I parked up and walked the rest of the way home (only 2 minutes, it’s not a long road). When DH came home he said the road wasn’t closed - no signs of it ever being closed.

A few days later same thing, 2:30pm - road closed. No signs of work going on, so I moved the sign and drove to my house. A neighbour text me same day asking why the road is closed as there is no work going on. I said I had no idea so he rang council to ask - they had no idea either and said nobody had applied to close the road either. Therefore we all just moved these signs off the road whenever we saw them and drove past.

Long story short - a woman down the street then went knocking on doors asking people not to move the signs as they were put there during the day to make the street safe for kids to play on!! By kids she means her son. It was explained to her that she can’t just close the road for this reason! Her reasoning is that it’s a short street and it’s only a short walk from the signs to any of the houses on the street. She was told that this isn’t the point, people have a right to be able to drive to their driveways! She’s continuing to put the signs up between 10am and 3pm. AWBU to continue ignoring them??

Hmm…can see the intention was good

I'm not convinced I'd warmly endorse the 'good' intentions of anybody wanting to leave a 3yo child to play outside unsupervised, because they'd rather not have to leave the house themselves.

I'm in favour of public transport too. Particularly rail-based public transport, it pollutes less and is safer. I may benefit from vans, lorries, taxis and buses, but it's not vans lorries, taxis or buses in the picture, is it? Well maybe one single van...

Store them off-street, on your own land. I wouldn't be allowed to stick a tool shed on the street so why should you get to hog a public amenity.

Incidentally I recently saw 'before' and 'after' pictures of Rue Manuel in Paris. One side of the street has had its parking spaces removed and replaced by greenery. Looks like a much more inviting place to live now.

If cars don't drive on pavements then how do they end up parked on them?They don't tend to be that good at giving way to pedestrians either.

Actually amazes me that people are describing the woman as crazy. She’s come from a different country where this is probably totally normal. It’s not usual here but I’m not sure how she would have been initially expected to know this. Imagine moving to another country and having to learn a totally different way of life. Many European countries have a much more child centred attitude than we do here. Obviously it’s not ok here. I would tell the council and let them have the conversation with her if a friendly conversation with her hasn’t worked.

Sahib, doesn't stop anyone getting into their homes

She's not crazy, she just thinks differently to others

Its illegal to park on pavements. Some people break the law but that means nothing on my street about 2 assholes out of 100 park on the pavement.

Its also illegal to stab people, some people still stab people but you can't ban all knives based on the fact a small few broke the law.

Its illegal to park on pavements.
Not everywhere in the UK, it’s not.

Exactly

Well its a rule with legal implications backed by law not its own unique sworn in 'law' but we are talking semantic, it actually is uphold-able and cars parked on pavements should be reported to the council (they have a web page for this) or 101.

People get confused because there is not a specific country wide law/ban on 'parking' on pavement but there is:

'Rule 145 of the Highway Code states You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.'

Any rule in the highway could that states 'MUST NOT' as opposed to 'should not' is legally backed and enforceable and or prosecutable by law.

You can't violate that and then say 'well it doesn't specifically say parking is illegal'. You had to have carried out an illegal infringement on the road safety code to be in that position.

Firstly, if people have off street parking, then they have a right to be able to access said parking.
Secondly having to park a street away and put baby in pram to get home may not be too bad but having to do multiple trips to unload shopping and take baby back and forth is very inconvenient.
Thirdly, not being able to walk does not mean not able to drive. Whether that is from age or disability.

Kids can play in the streets when they are old enough to know road safety and be trusted to keep themselves safe. Otherwise parks are for playing, roads are for vehicles, pavements are for pedestrians, cycle paths are for cycles.

Are you suggesting that every street in every village be closed to traffic at school drop off and pick up so that every child can safely get door to door to eliminate the need for parents to drop them off?

You could make it more difficult for people to obtain and carry knives, just like traffic laws could be enforced properly

Even when roads are "officially" closed off, they're usually "access only" meaning that residents, delivery drivers, tradesmen, etc can continue to drive through otherwise "pedestrianised" areas. There's certainly lots of vans and cars in the pedestrianised areas of our city's "High Street". Apparently taking your work van down a pedestrianised street to buy a sausage roll at Greggs is perfectly fine!

No cars don't have priority over other road users. All road users are to use the roads in a safe manner. Which means teaching kids that roads are a dangerous place and not a playground and roads should only be used by pedestrians when needing to cross from 1 side to the other, and to do so in a safe manner.
Having just as much right as a vehicle to be on a road doesn't mean that you can prohibite others from using the road to make it a safe space for a 3 year old to play.

Wow you’re a miserable bunch. I say good for her. Cars have completely ended having kids playing outside. Walk the small distance; make exceptions for people who are elderly or disabled; and stop being so miserable about a very short walk.

Roads are for everyone to share as in vehicles drive on them and pedestrians cross them. They are not a playground. It's no wonder that kids just run into the road and get knocked over if they are being taught that they have just as much right to be on the road as the vehicles. Then parent's want to blame the driver.
No drivers don't own the road but there is this thing called personal responsibility. A driver is not at fault if they have done everything right and had no time to brake and hit a kid that has run out in front of them. Roads are not safe spaces because they are where vehicles are allowed to drive.

Where I live, some of the streets are so narrow that there are pay and display and residents' parking spaces that include part of the pavement. They're all properly marked out and everything.

Well its a rule with legal implications backed by law not its own unique sworn in 'law' but we are talking semantic, it actually is uphold-able and cars parked on pavements should be reported to the council (they have a web page for this) or 101.

In East Sussex, that would be futile @housethatbuiltme , unless it's in a street where there are yellow lines.

East Sussex pavement parking

The chance of being able to find a parking space "a small distance" from my house is slim. Each house only has room for one car to park in front of it, at best, and many now have dropped kerbs and have created a parking space in the front garden, in addition to the one in the drive, meaning there's one less space in the road.

I bought a house with a drive and space for a garage so that I would have somewhere to park. It would be a damn nuisance not to be able to access it during the day, as I'm often in and out on work appointments.

This is ridiculous.
3 year olds have space in the community. They are called parks and fields. Not everyone is lucky enough to have 1 on their doorstep. The 3 year old doesn't need to play on the road. It's not about the child's rights, it's about the mother's selfish wants to not have to take their child to a safe space.
I don't know what you are trying to get at as of course as children are dependent on their parents for everything then of course it's upto the parent to give or not give permission for a child. That doesn't make other people more important, just that people old enough to take responsibility for themselves get to do that. 3 yo are not responsible for themselves so parents are responsible for them. That's why parents get to make the decisions and social services get involved if the parents aren't doing their job properly.

"I have just read your follow up message and maybe I am autistic or something"

Do you think you may be autistic?

If she wants to have access restrictions imposed upon the street (and I fully support the "living streets", "home zones" or "woonerven" concepts) then she needs to go through the proper channels.

What if there’s an emergency not good ambulance/ fire engine need to get down that street those seconds getting out to move the signs could cost allot. Deffo take pics and report