AIBU to park my van on the road?

[Vantopark]

My family and I live in a quiet village. DH and I have 2 cars between us which we park on the driveway. DH also has a separate work van which can’t fit on the drive, so he parks it down the road. He can’t park it directly outside our house because the road is narrow at this point and it would cause an obstruction. So he parks it legally on the road a bit further down where the road widens. It is not parked directly outside anyone’s house as there are no houses there, but it can be seen from some people’s windows at a distance. The parking is not at a premium, and there is always plenty of space left for other people to park there should they wish.

The other villagers seem to hate this. Their objection is based purely on the fact that they don’t like the look of it (it is sign-written). Not that it is obstruction anyone or using up valuable parking spaces (because it isn’t). They don’t have any objection to the other cars that are parked there. We’ve been asked repeatedly to move it, but as we haven’t obliged they are starting to get more aggressive, stopping me in the street to call me a ‘fucking selfish bitch’ etc. There are things I can see out of my windows that I would rather weren’t there, but I think that’s just village life isn’t it? There isn’t anywhere else that we can park the van in the village, anywhere else would be even closer to people’s houses.

YABU: yes you are a selfish bitch and the van shouldn’t be there

YANBU: You are legally entitled to park the van there, crack on and the neighbours need to get over it.

Keep parking there and as PP said report them for harassment if they carry on, I would also be concerned about someone doing something to damage the van

you’ve been as considerate as you can and aren’t blocking the road, you’re not directly outside someone’s house, I don’t understand the issue? If people “don’t like the look of it” then go and move to a detached house in the arse end of nowhere. Can’t afford to? Well then yeah, tough shit

They have explained - it’s because they don’t like the look of it. That annoys me more than anything as it seems so frivolous. I have asked them if they have a problem with the other cars that park on the road and they say no, it’s just our van.

Ask them to pay for a paint job

I think you’d be getting different votes if you’d included this in the OP, since you can put it on your property but just don’t want to.

Try parking the van on the drive at least half of the time so it’s not always out being an eyesore and see if that improves things. Or alternatively can he get a plain cover like the one below to put over if the branding is what’s bothering people? It would only take a second when he gets out.

If he’s self-employed with a branded van then you don’t really want to continue to rile up people in the village lest his business suffers.

They'd also need planning permission and to pay business rates. Which is the point the OP's neighbours are making. In their view, commercial vehicles should be kept on commercial premises.

Is there a reason your husband needs a car and a van? There are quite a few self employed tradespeople with vans that live in my estate but in every case I can see there is one van and one car for the house. I realise this might not help if you can’t get both the van and the car on the driveway though.

One of my neighbours had started parking an oversized works vehicle in one the guest parking spots near me. It does look ugly, overhangs the parking space causing an obstruction and, depending how he parks it, can block the pavement too. If it were outside my window I could see how it would grate. I wouldn’t swear at anyone about it though, that’s horrible.

So this is a big van? Where does it end? Is it OK if a HGV driver who lives in the village routinely parks up there overnight? What about a dozen of them?

The cover wouldn’t help. The paint is smart and in muted colours. It’s the fact that it is a van at all that offends them.

I’ve explained why we can’t park the van on the drive, it’s for the safety of our children. And if we did there would be 2 vehicles then parked on the road instead of one.

And obviously it does get moved when DH uses it.

Legally no, it’s not ok for a HGV driver to do that. Our van is in the same weight classification as a normal car, so we are legally entitled to park it like a normal car.

OP, would it be worth getting cards printed with the number of the local parking officer at the council office on?

Then when they swear at you or ask about the van you can hand them a card and tell them, politely, if they have a problem, then here is where they can report it.

Hopefully 150 people all being told separately that the van is perfectly entitled to park there and they don't have a leg to stand on regarding complaints might shut them up?

You’re blowing that out of proportion, op is talking about one van the same weight classification as a car. Worry about the HGVs if that happens

Lots of people really do have far too little to occupy their time. They genuinely object to a motor vehicle in the road?! Are they equally shocked and surprised to find shampoo in Boots?!

If they hate seeing vehicles on the road so much, they need to either grow a high hedge or just not look out of their windows.

So many people complain about seeing a tradie's van parked anywhere near their house and want it outright banned... until they need the tradie to do work for them, in which case it's miraculously just fine for the van to be there!

I expect 2 cars parked on the road would be less obtrusive from a neighbour perspective, because people (rightly or wrongly) don't like the sight of commercial vehicles being left on the road in for days at a time, even if legally parked. And they are generally taller and longer, with less glass and tend to be more noticeable, especially in a mainly residential setting.

I don't drive a van, but if I did and I didn't have enough space on my property I'd be inclined to vary where I parked it, and I'd park it on my drive if I wasn't going to use if for a few days, just because that would seem the more neighbourly thing to do. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, and a commercial vehicle parked for several days in a mainly residential setting out of sight of the owner but in sight of others does seem a little selfish. But that's just me, and it doesn't sound as if you are actually doing anything illegal. Just a bit inconsiderate.

There always used to be a law that vans had to be kept in a lockup and weren't allowed to park in residential areas. I can't remember when it changed - in the 90s I think.
There are so many vans on the road now that they are a menace. We have several in our street that won't park on their own drive but dump them in front of someone else's house. I am not really surprised your neighbours aren't happy.

Yes, I realise that, but these things do multiply. Once it becomes known as the place you can park a commercial vehicle, others will magically appear. The villagers dont want their nice village turning into a commercial vehicle storage yard. They may or may not be reasonable in that, but it will change the feel of the village.

I can see where they’re coming from but unless there is a restricted covenant preventing company vans being parked on the road overnight then they just have to suck it up.

Of course it's fine to be there while it's working. Parked there permanently is completely different.

Tell the backwards villagers that any more verbal abuse and you will be reporting them to the police. Then do it. Ask ur local policeman to come and look at the van to double check your not doing anything improper (even tho u know we’ll fine). Spread the word via the nosey neighbours or post office or whoever that u have gotten police involved and then report the persons every single time. Keep a not of every single time for a harrassment charge. Absolute idiots.

The op is a bloody villager!!!!

One of the reasons I couldn’t wait to leave a village and get back with normal people. Just tell them to do one - it’s legally parked. Whether they like the look of it is their problem, not yours. 🙄

I'm in Team van although we have been lucky enough to be able to park ours off road. DH has a transit type van, it can't always be left at his business unit as the work is mobile and often involves driving in the other direction at 5am. It's currently jammed on our driveway in front of our lounge window. People who aren't trying to run a small business don't understand.

Village dwellers can be so precious about the village "character" , these are often incomers who have paid a fortune for the Proper Country Life Experience rather than people who are more pragmatic about the need to earn a living. I hope you can brave it out . Maybe do a few favours for neighbours who need furniture moving as part of a charm offensive?

Yes and lowering the tone 🤣

It's old fashioned I realise, but it was once absolutely the norm that works vehicles were kept on works premises. My Grandad had a small building company and kept a yard for exactly that reason. OP is within her rights, but it will annoy some of her neighbours.

Op is also a villager, she lives there too! If most people are complaining about a small work van in the village no one is likely to bring home a HGV themselves are they

so why is it selfish? what are the people saying the problem is? sureky not just that it’s unsightly, what else?

I’d make whatever changes you need to make in order to make your drive more accessible to park the van there. slabs in front of the window or whatever.

honestly, to have a van and two cars when you don’t have enough space is annoying for neighbours, and anyone saying otherwise clearly has no experience of this issue.

i have the same problem outside here, bloody vans everywhere ( 26 houses in the street and at one point there were six vans on the road with some driveways unused as theirs cars were also parked outside).

in my mums street it’s a a van up the drive and two cars in the street meaning the houses opposite cannot park outside their own houses as there wouldn’t be room to get more than a bike by with cars parked opposite each other. selfish. they should widen their drive and get two vehicles up.

commercial vehicles should be elsewhere. some housing estates ban them in the deeds.

I’d report them for harassment too