to find this really fucking annoying even though it doesn't really affect me much

[walkway8]

I live in a detached house with a walkway between myself and the neighbours to access both our gardens at the back (diagram attached).

The neighbour has a front garden whereas I have a driveway. They have a gate that opens to the side of my house to allow them access to the walkway to get to their back garden. The walkway is shared land according to the deeds but stops at the top of my driveway (basically my driveway isn't shared but the walkway is).

Whenever my neighbour is doing anything in their garden, bringing this in / out of the garden/ taking things from the garden to their car on the road or whatever, they will go up and down my driveway instead of going through their gate and then down their garden.

It really annoys me. I don't really know why but AIBU to think this is just an odd thing to do?

My living room window looks onto my driveway and some days they will be working in the garden and making multiple trips up and down my drive and I feel awkward and like I need to close my blinds.

I don't even have a bad relationship with them, not friends or close but fine neighbours and we say hello how are you etc when we see them.

But I just find the whole thing really weird. I would never dream of strolling up and down their garden path repeatedly.

We also have cars on the drive so when they are bringing things in and out it worries me they will get scratched.

Aibu to find this annoying and tbh a bit rude?

@ApplesOrangesBananas
My version of OPs diagram

It would annoy me too but I wouldn't do anything about it because that would seem really petty.

Do you neighbours realise they don't have access straight down to the street? They might not have properly looked at the deeds and just presumed the shared walkway continues. A friendly chat might be a good starting point. However I think a gate at the top of your driveway boundary is probably a good idea longer term as it is clearly much easier to walk straight down your driveway rather than navigate through a gate with their wheelie bin.

@ApplesOrangesBananas

The hatched orange is the shared pathway, the green is OPs driveway and the purple is the neighbour's garden.
The blue line and red is my suggestion of a new fence and gate position.

@walkway8

Did the previous neighbour do this OP?

It’s certainly a strange layout but the situation would annoy me too especially if I was sitting in my living room and seeing them busying about. I would be tempted to park so close to their fence that there wasn’t any room for them to walk/manouver, giving them no choice but to use their own front gate. It might be enough to give them the hint or you could just have a quiet word with them as they could have forgotten about the boundary rights.

How about parking your car as close to the fence as you possibly can?

Though in your shoes, I'd gate the section that leads to the gangway, either diagonally or using an L shaped fence, with a keypad lock. Or could you get a gate for the opening to your drive where it joins the street or footpath?

Fence exactly where the property line is according to the deeds. You will need a locked gate allowing you access from your drive to the gangway.

They need to open a gate to their front garden at the path so they can get through their garden to the gangway from their current gate.

While you're getting pp for the fence (if it's needed) park your cars as far over to the left as you possible can. Pull the left hand car as far up the drive as possible, and the right hand car can squeeze in beside it but not as far up toward the house, so it won't block your driver side door from opening.

Thanks that’s what I thought and explains a lot, hence the annoyance.

I wouldn’t find it that annoying tbh it’s not like she can park in that part of the driveway. I often walk on my neighbours to water the plants or put their bins out but we have a good relationship.

Have you talked to them about it since they moved in a year ago and told them they havent got right of access over your drive and to stop using it, or just seethed?

🤣