AIBU to refuse moving my son's car from a public road?

[Deactivated000]

Our house is in a corner plot at the bottom of a cul-de-sac. We have converted half of our front garden into an additional drive so we now have parking for 3 cars, which we have.

Unfortunately our working hours can cause us problems when it comes to parking our cars as it’s a long single drive so cars are parked behind one another.

My DH and I both leave for work at 3.30am and sometimes my DS doesn’t get home from work until 11pm, so to save as playing musical cars at 3.30am (and potentially waking the neighbours) my DS parks on the road opposite when our shifts do clash. However, the people who live in the house were my DS sometimes parks in front of have been asking us to move and park somewhere else saying that they have family coming over and need the space, there is space for 4 cars, they had 1 car of family visiting. The last couple of times they’ve asked us to move we have, but now I’m really annoyed about it and have us much right to park there as everyone else as it’s a public road.

For clarity, we can’t park on the road in front of our house as we are in the corner and would block neighbours drives.

They have exactly the same right as OP. I have two neighbours who put a traffic cone in the road because they seem to think they own that space. They don't.

We used to have a neighbour who did this - he even left a note under the windscreen once claiming that he did own that space, even though it was on the opposite side of the road to him, directly outside (but obviously not blocking and allowing plenty of manoeuvring space for) some very nice, perfectly reasonable neighbours, who only had one car and always put it on their drive.

Best thing was that he had a double drive and never actually parked there himself at all, except when he was clearly trying to make a point about us parking there - but we just pulled in behind or in front of him, so his pettiness was pointless.

He also pulled the 'visitors' card - greatly exaggerating the number of visitors he had, as these types often do. Even so, going by his crazy 'logic', why would somebody's occasional visitor be MORE entitled to park there than a permanent resident?

No traffic cones are unacceptable, but in this case the OP has 3 or 4 cars and the space to park them on their own land- they just don't want the inconvenience.

But people don't want the faff of an extra task to remember and do every day - they just want to park up in a safe, legal space and then not have to worry about it until they need their car again.

I assume that you don't drive and don't understand the parking rules on public roads. Unless parking is controlled by a permit system or similar, then nobody has priority with regard to on-road parking just because it happens to be outside their house. On a public road, the OP's son has as much right to the space as her neighbours, their guests or any other random person who might happen to want to park there.

I'm guessing the neighbours wouldn't be very happy with the noise of them having to shuffle the cars around at 3:30am either. Engines revving at slow speeds, as people go forward a bit carefully, reverse a bit more, are always much more annoying than just getting in and driving straight away.

At any rate, you don't get a discount on your VED for avoiding parking on the road when it would be convenient but maybe not strictly essential; so it really is first come, first served to use the public roads.

So what? The neighbours don't want their guests to have the inconvenience of walking a few metres extra.

It's a public road, so it's first come, first served.

Thoughts aren’t facts thankfully.

Are your 3 cars in a long line @Deactivated000? Only from your description in the op of giving up half your front garden I was picturing 2 in a line on the drive and the other to the side on the garden. In which case the 2 that leave at the same time park one behind the other and ds takes the single space surely?

We had one of these. I just walked away when he started trying to take me to task for my (completely reasonable) parking. That completely bamboozled him! Well after suggesting that it wasn’t my parking that was the issue it was his inability to drive as he felt I was blocking him in. He’s moved now thankfully . When the bin lorry came he’d come outside to make sure it was being driven and parked to his satisfaction.

I'm sure OP would have thought of that if it were the case.

I’d advise them to park their cars on the road outside their house and their visitor can then park on their drive?

As it sounds like they'd just not waiting you to park outside their house rather than actually needing the space next time I would say something like "sorry we can't keep moving the cars like this, however if you are having a party or something and need more spaces we can look at it at the time"

And if that doesn't appease them buy a £200 ratty caravan on Facebook and park it outside their house for a few months.

such a shame that you are wrong

When parking restrictions come in, I won't be ,OP has enough parking space on their own land so they won't want the expense to pay for parking as well- this kind of anti social behaviour is what causes parking restrictions, so congratulation on being "right".

Intrigued as to why you think they have more of a right to a space on a public road than anyone else?

Maybe at 3am get your cars off the drive, leave them running while you then move son's car onto the drive, if other neighbours complain explain you're only following instructions from the moany neighbour.

That will depend on the parking restrictions though won't it?

So does that mean that people with no parking spaces outside their own houses can't even own one car - or are being CFs if they do?

OP's neighbours are very lucky to have so much public space frequently available right outside their house; many people live in flats and on roads with double yellows, crossings, zig zags and similar and can't ever park outside their own doors.

That would depend on the parking restrictions in question. On many residential roads with restrictions, residents with parking permits can park anywhere on that road as long as they are displaying their permit appropriately. Visitors - perhaps only during designated hours or if the neighbours choose to pay extra for a visitor permit?

I have never seen a permit system that gives visitors priority over residents of that street if they happen to be visiting the house right next to where they have parked. Where is this system in operation, exactly?

It’s a public street and just because it is outside their home does not mean they dictate who uses it and when. Sod that.

It’s a public road so I’d leave it there. If they’re bothered then they can convert the front to a drive?! Bit petty of them to block 4 parking spaces!

Two neighbours opposite us park on the road. Both have useable drives, and only 1 car each, but park on the road to stop other people parking outside their house!

It makes getting into our drive harder because they're both taking up a lot of the road space needed to make the manoeuvre. I also don't understand the difference of their car being outside or someone else's being there! They're looking at a car either way.

Well I'd like to assume that but there are plenty of people around with no common sense. And op hasn't provided a diagram.