Neighbours have decided that myself and NDN park some of our cars in another street to make it fairer for everyone. AIBU to ignore the request?

[SumoFarah]

I live on a street with unrestricted parking and few driveways. I know it might sound excessive but my family and NDN family have 7 cars between us. I can’t get a drive out in as the street is really narrow so I would need the space opposite to be empty in order to exit.

A neighbour on the street knocked on my and NDN to explain that our six cars take up too much space and means that:

1. neighbours who finish work late can never get a space so have to park on another street and walk
2. their weekend visitors can never get a space
3. on weekends they sometimes have to park in the middle of the road to unload their shopping and then go and find somewhere else to park

We we’re told that ‘they all’ think everyone should agree to use a maximum of 2 spaces to use as they wish and any further space needed should be used in the free car park about 1/2 mile away.

Also that the two teenagers (one mine, one NDN) don’t need cars as they are still in school so should have no need for cars anyway.

I get that parking spaces are at a premium, and can be frustrating when all the spaces are taken, but I don’t want myself or my dc to walk 1/2 mile in the dark (or the light, for that matter) just to placate the neighbours when there’s a space available. All our cars are pretty much used on a daily basis.

NDN told the messenger neighbour that it’s first-come-first-served. I do understand the annoyance but don’t agree with the suggestion because some houses only have one car and some houses don’t have a car, so should balance out in theory, but obviously doesn’t in practice.

Would I be unreasonable to ignore the ‘request’?

Suggestions welcomed.

As someone who has lived on a street that people use as “overflow” parking, worth bearing in mind that that can wind people up too. We regularly had people who had driveways parking outside our house on a tight terraced street. Often over Christmas they would park there for the full two weeks. I suppose you just have to be mindful of not pushing the problem on somewhere else!

People used to work more locally though, now everyone has to drive to work.

One of my neighbours has 8 cars (massive house) kids and partners.... They converted their drive to get rid of grass etc. they still have cars on the pavement. Doesn't affect me but I can see it is a nightmare for those beside them with manoeuveing their cars and access to their houses

And that is with a drive way.....

Multiple car households are the norm these days unfortunately. The message doesn't seem to have reached planners who think 0 or 1 car max is plenty per house. Are you on a new estate??

I don't think there's anything you can do about it - on street parking is first come first served, as annoying as it is for everyone. It's one of the reasons I had to spend £££ for a house with a driveway - getting home late and carrying shopping/babies in the dark from several roads away wore quite thin

Spaces could just as easily be taken by other people - even non residents.

So whats the difference?

Thats right - none!

Normally I’d say that the neighbours can do one, if the street has unrestricted parking.

But not sure why you need that many cars so YABU. Sounds like a nightmare (you, not the neighbours).

OP has 3 cars though which is quite common nowadays for a family. The neighbours have 4 but you think that is ok.

Pros and cons of where you and the neighbors live. We've got acres of land and room to park lots of vehicles, but we live in the south of Italy where property is very cheap. There are no jobs here though, and we've had to build our lives around online work. Likewise when we lived in the UK, I had a choice of well paid jobs, fancy supermarkets and the parking outside our little terrace was a complete nightmare. There an no "unwritten rules", or local informal agreements, just the law. It's first come first served, and that's a "con" of where you've all chosen to live.

Yabu, how annoying. If your kids have to park round the corner maybe one of the other SIX cars can give them a lift home.

I doubt the neighbours will want to give them a lift home

I actually don’t think you should have gone along with it. It’s a ridiculous request.

We are a one (tiny) car household for context.

Two households with 7 cars between them takes up more than a fair share of resources, in this case parking space. The neighbourly thing to do would be for some of your and NDN’s cars to park further away so that everyone has space nearby to unload shopping etc. Personally being neighbourly rather than selfish is a really important value to me but each to their own I guess.

I don’t think 7 cars between two houses is excessive. We have 4 cars for 4 adults here, and both of our neighbours have 3 cars that are used daily.

So you don't want your kids walking in the dark but are ok with neighbours walking in the dark because, you know, you have 7 cars.Fair enough /s

Speaking as someone who is in this situation, there is nothing worse than getting home late from work, tired, lugging all sorts of bags, exercise books to mark etc all, to find the nearest parking is a 5 mins walk away, especially as most of the residents are WFH. I think you and your ndn are selfish. You do not and should not, out of respect and good neighbourly manners, take up 7(?!) parking spaces.

Maybe read the OP properly

YABU - unless you all have blue badges.

This is all part of being a good neighbour - yeah you don't like walking but I assume neither do they. Honestly, getting on with your neighbours is worth so much, ours have been amazing during an unexpected crisis and I love them so much.

Where did OP say that this was the scenario for them, though?

It could just as easily be either her petite teenage DD not having to walk there/back in the dark each day in winter or a neighbour's 30yo rugby-playing massive mate who very occasionally visits them not having to walk in the dark now and again.

Elderly retired people tend to have much more time and freedom in the daytime, so usually much easier for them to do their errands whilst younger people are out at work and then grab a parking space for the night before the others get home.

With that amount of cars they likely don't walk anywhere

Presumably you pay the same amount of council tax as everyone else, you aren't entitled to a disproportionate share of the use of public land. In a better world the council would sort this out with a proper residents' parking system (capped to two permits per household, or at least if you want more than that you need to pay for it), but this seems like a reasonable thing for the neighbours to ask for informally otherwise.

Personally I don't see why drivers should get free use of public land to store their property for 16 hours+ a day full stop though.

In an ordinary residential area (particularly one where people can afford to buy cars for schoolchildren!) a 17-year-old should be able to walk five minutes in the dark perfectly safely. It's unusual for a kid to drive to school and most have to walk more than half an hour, be it directly from school or from the railway station or the bus stop.

This is a fantastic solution and you are a great neighbour.

Could you come round and have a word with the person from the bottom end of the estate with the straight-through exhaust who roars up and down the road past my windows for me 🤣 ?

3 cars is a lot but less crazy than the 5 or 6 I initially thought it could have been. Your proposed solution for your DC to alternate parking in the car park is a good one. You sound like a thoughtful neighbour.

Parking is a huge issue half my town is made up of Victorian mill workers terraces and I know there are absolute parking wars like this all the time down those roads.

Really it’s a public highway and the op can park like this though it’s annoying. Many people have misread her op. My friend lives on a road where they never park any of their 3 cars or workplace van on their 2 car drive, no access issue. Now that’s infuriating. It’s a big house with 4 adults in, no idea what their thinking is but that is a valid complaint.

It would cause mayhem but imagine if you could buy the space on the road outside your house annually. Not just a permit the actual space.

Whilst you have every right to park where you like, your neighbours are pleading with you to be considerate to others. I think I would at least try.