Hostile note left on my windscreen

[Whatsgoingon777]

For the past week I have been working in a different town. It is temporary, and I will return to my usual workplace by Christmas.

Parking in town is very expensive, so I have been parking in a quiet cul de sac about a 10-15 minute walk from my work.

Every house has a drive way and I’m parked right at the end away from their homes, and there is always plenty of space for anyone else wanting to park there.
I also have a tiny car.
I would never park here if it seemed like I would be inconveniencing the people who live there. My car is doing no harm there and is in the way of no one!

Anyway I return from work this evening to find a note saying ‘TRY A CAR PARK’

It seems utterly pathetic to me, but they clearly think I’m in the wrong.

AIBU thinking about parking here still?

Whatever we might say about "it's a public road", "you are entitled to park there", "if they don't like it, they should ask the council to provide restrictions" etc, you do have to be aware of the people who live there, who are probably starting their own threads on Mumsnet.

Having said that, I very much resent paying for parking in general, especially as the powers that be have now capitalised on it with their myraid of apps and addiction to complexity. I will often park in a free retail park and walk ten minutes to a high street, if the restrictions allow it. (And yes, I know the tiny print often says "you must not leave the retail park", but I have yet to be caught out by this.)

This level of petty-mindedness blows my mind.

If any of the ‘it’s my road, I take vigilante action against strangers who park here’ brigade moved to London they’d soon find that they’re legally wrong and they’d just have to suck it up. People park. Sometimes you walk a few extra meters. Sometimes the car you can see from your front window isn’t yours (usually, parking outside your own house is unusual here). It’s not a big deal.
Nothing bad happens. Nobody gets cross.

I can see both sides here. You're legally doing nothing wrong but also how are they meant to know this isn't permanent? if it was this easy for you to find others will have done so too.

Is it a new estate? They may be paying factors fees for road upkeep etc. Our estate is in this situation and no one is meant to park on the road because they're designated "shared spaces" where pedestrians have priority. It's why we bought here, same with our neighbours. During the day (when you're not there) it's mobbed with little kids learning to ride their bikes etc.

I would get a couple of mini in car cameras and put a large notice on the front and rear windscreens that recording is in progress.

If only these sort of people put the time and efforts they use on pointless stuff like this into something constructive like volunteering for a local charity. I love the data centre document idea.

It’s so bad that you were unable to do your job properly without fearing the mob . Everyone was a learner, once!

If there are parking restrictions outside their homes then the note may have a point. I told the headmistress of the local school this as she was parked outside my house every day without a residents permit or temporary permit. I don't have a car myself but being so entitled she thought she could just ignore the restrictions infuriated me, plus anyone visiting had nowhere to park. Before the restrictions he same sort of thing happened but I didn't challenge as I had no grounds.

If they don’t own the road, it’s none of their business how ‘permanent’ it is.

Exactly, we were left with our rubbish uncollected. Well done you for understanding!

Oh, indeed. It was in inner south London, which was a very challenging place to do driving instruction: roads with few parked cars suitable for beginners were very rare, half an hour's drive to reach a road 40mph or above (and now they're all 20mph). Bay parking was the worst, when it was made part of the driving test: almost impossible to practise it in some areas. I even had members of the public "challenging" me in supermarket car parks. We had strict instructions not to practise on test routes (and I believe it took a freedom of information request for test routes to be published). I quickly learned that parking brings out the worst in people, even more than driving itself, it seems.

A man in my road has about four notices along his fence line saying if you don't live here, don't park here.

It's ridiculous, it's a public highway and people are able to park there, he doesn't own the road outside his gate.

The only gripe I have is that idiots park right on the corner which makes it impossible to see anything coming, wish he had a notice up for that.

Pillocks!

I know someone who taxed a spare vehicle just to leave it legally parked outside the house of a nightmare neighbour.

This neighbour gave verbal abuse to anyone who dared park outside their home (no mobility issues, no driveways, just a terraced road where evryone just had to park where they could).

They would wait until they were out and move it by a fraction of an inch or turn it around, but it was always there, for around a year.

I thought the other neighbours would be annoyed at the permanently taken up spot on the road, but apparently she had told them and they found it hilarious (pretty much everyone had had run ins with this angry man and his family).

I live on an urban, though mainly residential , street so I find this kind of behaviour really weird. I’d give myself a stroke if I got wound up every time, for instance, the local football team plays at home and our street gets parked up. Unless it is a private road they don’t own it.

I get this sometimes as a community nurse. I don’t block anyone in or any driveways. I’ve came out a couple times to a note on my windscreen and then the person apologising as they saw come out of their neighbours house!
one time I was visiting someone next to the hospital, a man must have saw my uniform thinking I was just parking there to go to work….he was shouting and balling and only shut up when I got my bags out of the car and walk up to his neighbours path.

what I’m trying to say is some people hate a ‘strange car’ and think they own the road infront of their house.

one thing that makes me chuckle is if I pull over outside someone’s house to make a phonecall for work and see how long it takes for a curtain to twitch 😆

What are you expecting her car to randomly start doing the okey kokey down the street? A parked car can hardly constitute disturbing the peace.

You're saying they don't see your car, but they obviously do, hence the note.

I lived on a private road which was quiet, until I was off sick one week and it was surprising how busy it was.
Neighbours out on the road, chatting, visitors/carers popping in etc.

Someone has an issue, and rightly or not, it's their street and not worth the hassle.

Saying you're not in anyone's way is neither here nor there as you're not there all day to know.

What you "pointed out" is completely irrelevant though. The only thing that matters in this situation is that the OP has as much right to park on a public road with no parking restrictions as the residents. What they pay in terms of council tax or what "vested interests" they might have is neither here nor there.

It’s the fact you’re parking in the same place every day, OP. Yes, you’re entitled to park on the public highway but try to vary where you park. I’d also recommend avoiding cul de sacs as your car will stand out more. Find a selection of places you can park and use one place, then another, then another, etc. If you run out of places, return to the biggest/mainest/longest road you parked on and, if possible, park there but in a different position on that road.

If its a public road and you're not obstructing a dropped kerb or making it difficult to pull into a driveway then you have every right to park there; its called ROAD TAX!!!!
Keep the note and if anyone confronts you, report them to the police for harassment.
Cheeky sods thinking they own the street ffs

I agree with this,
It can get very annoying for residents, when a random car is just using car parking space on their road.

I personally think you are doing nothing wrong.

However, car parking is a big issue nowadays, with some homes having more than 2 cars and other residents are left with no parking.
Also some residents using bins to save their car parking space infront of their house.
Thats how pathetic people are about their space.
I think you should find another road for parking to save any confrontation, but you are not in the wrong.

You know it’s for 5 or 6 weeks. They don’t! Just try moving things around and park in different places through the week.

She is parking perfectly legally. If the local residents have an issue, they need to lobby their local authority to designate the road as permit parking only.

OP I’d now park on the other nearby cul-de-sac you mentioned, or the main road; they’ve obviously got a curtain twitching, would be traffic warden down where you usually park. I know you shouldn’t let them bully u out, but I wouldn’t bother parking there again, for the risk that they’d damage your vehicle, it’s not worth it.

Ha ha ha brilliant!!

They dont know you are only parking there temporarily ( and 6 weeks isn't temporary). Stop being tight and use a car park