Parking bay disaster

[newhouse12345]

Hi all, NC because of previous posts

We recently bought a property and having lived here for 2 months, we have been informed by the council that our drive isn't official and the council are going to install a parking bay across our drive.

We have a drive for 2 cars, which is paved and is identical to our neighbours. The kerb is very low profile so you wouldn't know by sight that ours is any different. But the neighbours got the official sign off years ago, and apparently ours didn't! The rule have changed now, so we don't qualify to apply for one!!

Now we are stuck with a driveway that we cant make official and will potentially be blocked by a single parking space.

The council consulted with the owner in April- when we were in the process of purchasing the property.

I'm frustrated that this wasn't flagged when we purchased it. All the house documents claim that it has off street parking and there was no mention of council consultation on any local issues.

Is it just one of those things? Should we have been more thorough? Either way I'm annoyed as off street parking was part of the appeal of the property.

Forgive me if I've misunderstood this, but in my experience a visibility splay isn't a physical thing, like a footpath or a kerb, it's a line drawn on plan demonstrating that there is 2.4m 'clear' each side of the 2.4m hard standing, aka the physical driveway surface. Clear in terms of no trees, no pillars, no walls etc blocking the view of oncoming traffic in both directions when exiting the driveway. Maybe worth double checking this? I don't think the guidelines are saying your driveway needs to be 7.2m wide, which is wider than most terraced and semi detached houses in the country...

I was going to say the same as @SweetBabyJebus - you just need visibility ie no hedges or anything blocking the ability to see if you'll hit anything on the way out.

A similar issue was raised by our solicitor when we bought our house, PP hadn’t been granted for the parking space so we had to get indemnity insurance.

Yes the splay is the white lines

My friend had this. Front garden was turned into parking, but it was only a low kerb and not a drop kerb. Woke up one morning to find a note on the car on the "drive" from the council to say it was not an official driveway and dropped kerb, so was illegal to drive over the path to get to their drive. So then they couldn't park on their drive anymore (or risk fine). So ridiculous as now there's 2 more cars parked on the street that's packed with cars anyway!!!

This is a photo of our front drive. Ours is the first.

How would you know it was a problem?

No photo has posted

@xyz111 I think the issue is with access over the pavement to a property with forecourt parking. Pavements aren't designed to have vehicles driven over them and doing so causes damage. Presumably same to a kerb. So both need to be altered .
Or that's what I believe to be the argument.

What a nightmare and quite frankly, a bit odd of the council if you're not in an area where parking is in demand. Which council is it?

Presumably residents asked for a controlled parking zone, hence the consultation.

OP is it a road near a station/ attraction / school etc?

I just checked the definition and instructions for working out the visibility splay for a driveway. https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/visibility-splays so is the area in your required visibility splay clear of obstructions over 1.005 metres high? If so you may still qualify for a dropped kerb.

@TakenRoot Presumably residents asked for a controlled parking zone, hence the consultation.

That's certainly not true where I live in London.
Indeed consultations are often a requirement before many major changes eg changing the status of a community school to an Academy.
They consult but there is no obligation to follow the expressed views of the consultees.

How long has the driveway been used. You might be able to argue that you have an easement by use.

I agree, there is no obligation to follow the consultation.

But in the London boroughs where I have dealt with CPZs the council doesn’t initiate parking bays in residential streets unless a significant % of residents have asked for it in the first place. Then they consult, then implement or not. A majority of residents have to agree in order to implement.

That's interesting . I'm in Southwark and it doesn't seem to be the case here .

When selling a property do you have to declare any disputes?

You do where I live but I am not in England.

Yes the relevant borough will tell a lot about the council's motivation - some of them are absolutely rabid about parking

This seems madness. I’m glad the other residents are getting together over this.

I agree that you need to speak to the solicitor about this as it seems a failing in their part. I also agree with going to the local paper. They will love something like that.