Driveway used by neighbours as a drop of zone for friends/work

[Cherryblossom200]

Hi,

The title says it all really. My neighbours have two cars, both cars block off the area outside of their house. I have a double drive and it gets used as a drop area for children (they run a business from home). I have a child myself so before anyone suggests I hate kids it’s not that I just find it quite annoying and a bit disrespectful if I’m going to be honest. It’s happened roughly 3 times already today.

I’ve lived here for two years now and not made a big deal of it. I’ve said something in passing that the parents don’t use my drive and my neighbour was understanding but it continues. Sometimes the parents drop off the kids and leave, but the vast majority of the time they stop and chat 😝

Before anyone thinks I’m being petty, there is a pretty big parking space the parents can use directly outside my house and opposite my house which they can use. They just don’t want to walk an extra 10 steps so use my drive.

Not sure if I’m being petty, but I do find it quite annoying.

Any ideas what to do?

If you have a council who are fund happy, try calling them. Mine were very quick to row offending cars away!

Even if it was literally the front of the car sticking over two inches. 😡

I don’t really want to go down this route just yet. I feel I’ve put my foot (firmly) down now and will see how that goes. I’ll get a sign and put that up. If none of that works then yes, I’ll speak to the council. Which will open up a whole can of worms for my neighbour. I doubt they are aware she is teaching from home...

Yes it's a tad aggressive. I was fucking furious.

I shouldn't have parked there but I honestly had no idea about the dropped curb thing. And as I said, I was two or so inches over the dropped curb with my bumper. Still nowhere actually near their off road driveway. Not even close to blocking them in or obstructing them in any way.

Turns out they did it to everyone, she just sat at the window watching all day.

They became known by most of the street as 'those assholes from 43'.

You'll get more sympathy from the council if you have had a proper conversation about it with your neighbour.

I know you don't want to hear this, but I think it will go much better if you take her up on that offer to discuss it before you go putting signs up and calling the council. You do still have to live next to her.

Honestly it is my very resort contacting the council and something I doubt I’ll do. I just think I’ll see how things go over the next few months. Hopefully the message will have got through now.

She had full on neighbour wars with the previous person who lived in my house (who apparently was a nightmare) but I’m starting to realise there is no smoke without fire...and she must of very much of been a part of the problem. I think the guy who owned my house put in the double drive as he was sick of her clients parking outside his house constantly.

What is there to discuss?!

Let's sort this out?

No, you stop your mates parking there.

Sorted.

Asking to sort this out implies that there's a compromise to be made. There isn't.

It's a 'kerb' not a 'curb' or a 'curve'.

It feels like you’re angry about a theoretical inconvenience rather than any significant real inconvenience. I assume the hours this happens are restricted to after school and don’t go onto long? How many times have you actually been kept waiting to go in or out? The supermarket van is hardly the neighbours fault and I’m not sure you can expect them to extend their drive to appease your indignation. I have this image of a very angry, net curtain twitching woman with a notebook taking down registration numbers and popping out to take photos when the coast is clear. Life’s too short to be upset by non issues. Someone said, ask the neighbour to park on the road leaving their drive free for visitor parking.

Have a bottle of wine and get less angry about something so insignificant.

Sounds like she wants you to do all of the compromising

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder where I live it's spelt 'curb' actually.

But thank you so much for your superior intelligence. 🙄

Did that make you feel better @Chocolatedeficitdisorder ?

Everytime you spot someone there, go outside and pop a big note under their wiper to say 'please don't park across my driveway, access required at all times'

Curb is the usual American spelling.

It's a 'kerb' not a 'curb' or a 'curve'.

^ this.

If she doesn't want her clients to talk those extra few steps why doesn't she park her second car where you suggested the clients park then they can park in front of her house?

Or get a can of line marking paint for playing fields etc (Screwfix or Toolstation, about £6)
make a cardboard template and draw one of those long H's |-----| in white on the road outside your drop kerb.

(Incidentally we have had success in getting a pothole repaired in less than a week by drawing round it with the white line paint where reporting it almost 2 years previously failed)

I would also check they’ve got the correct planning etc to run a business from home.

I would pop out and say ‘ don’t block my driveway parking is over there’

@PMSwithacockinmydress it's 'curb' in the States.

Cherrypavlova, I have lived here for two years and have said very little about it. But this woman is taking the p*ss I’m afraid. My windows are big at the front of my house so when people drop off their kids they sometimes sit and wait for a bit and just look into my house.

Some women drop and leave, some stop and have a nice chat for about 5 minutes or so and some actually go into her house and leave 15-20 minutes later.

I’m not a person who sits behind net curtains 😆 but I can see very clearly when people are sitting in their cars looking directly into my property so it’s hard to ignore.

And this happens throughout the day, morning/through to evenings and weekends. I would like this to happen to you and see how you feel.

I’m not an angry sort of person, if I was I would have said something a long time ago and gone to the council about it. But I’ve been quite passive about it.

She can

1. Talk to all her clients and say please don’t park across my neighbour’s dropped kerb

2. Park her own second car elsewhere (or both cars elsewhere) whilst she is accepting teaching clients, so they can park on her driveway

You can

1. speak nicely to everyone each time they do it, pointing out that it’s only a few minutes when they do it but it happens all day long, so it’s a constant problem for you. Smile sweetly, be nice, point out where else they can park. Rinse and repeat.

2. Put up a sign and/or paint a white line

3. stop thinking of it as “stupid mothers” - I guarantee if it were the blokes doing drop off and pick up it’d be the same. People are lazy, that’s all.

Squirrels but it is the mothers who do it. I’ve seen poor residents who battle constantly every day with women who park across their drives/on their drives on top of road etc etc and a lot of the time their are so rude to people who ask them to leave

Yes - but I bet the fathers do it too! There just more mothers doing the shitty running around.

And I’m one of those mothers doing the shitty running around and always in a rush myself. But I respect people’s properties too.

I live opposite two schools and get this all the time - it's infuriating!