House & Home Interesting parking issue with neighbour

Even when the council makes them put in parking doesn't mean they will. My neighbours did a huge extension and a double garage from the right of way, I have never seen them use it once, they park all their cars in the street and have blues with another neighbour over street parking, now there is a mega falling out. The whole streetscape thing is different now, what was once a clear streetscape is now packed with cars, big cars.

 

When I was in my early 20s I had a pretty shabby car. I was renting a pretty shabby house and often parked in front of the house across the road when the spot in front of mine was taken. Every time I moved my car, the bloke in the very well kept house across the road would come out and carefully sweep the gutter where my car had been. The behaviour fascinated me so much that sometimes I would park my car there and move it half a dozen times a day just to see the ritual unfold.

 

This is a reason why owning less cars is good. Apart from the environment impact, rego and maintenance costs.... Less street clutter.

 

This underlines the importance of ensuring that you get what YOU want and need, not the architect. You live there, they don't.

When we had to rebuild out double carport, I insisted that it be moved a bit further from the side fence to allow for space to park another car. Had to convince hubby first, then argue with designers and builders.

But now we have three off-street parking spaces, two undercover. We don't use the third spot often, but at times it is amazingly handy when we have friends or family staying with us. And good for resale appeal.
Marg

 

If Council did mandate this, imagine the outcry from many Property Chat members - who would be livid at the 'incompetence of Council' at requiring such parking if it applied to them!

 

I sympathise with your old neighbour. My neighbours have been parking a huge van on the street outside my house for a couple of years now. They hardly ever move it, so a lot of dirt (and rotting leaves) builds up and big weeds grow in the dirt because the Council sweeping truck can't clean there.

So, when they do ( rarely) move it, I try to race out and sweep and weed before they put it back. I collect many many buckets of dirt and composted leaves each time.

 

Looks like a good film!
There's no one living in the (much bigger) van outside my place though.

 

Call a towie, and tell them you don't need this vehicle anymore, and it's probably worth a couple of hundred bucks at a wrecker...

 

Many people say that off-street parking is public and that infers that it is open to anyone to park there whenever they want and for as long as they want. My issue with that is that if it is truly public then it should be open to many, or all, to be enjoyed. The problem in low-density suburbia is that a permanent resident, or neighbour, utilizes that public space to such an extent that it becomes exploitative. By having the same car in the same space day after day, night after night, seven days a week, no one else can enjoy or benefit from that space. The road also becomes more congested and harder to navigate down by all who use the road. I feel residents should try to park within their fence-line when it comes to off-street parking so that their neighbours can enjoy an unobstructed street frontage for at least some of the time and not feel an sense of intrusion and being taken advantage of. Off-street parking should primarily be for visitors and short-term occupiers in low density suburbia. Permanent residents should give their neighbours space and consider their privacy. I agree with other contributors that people should consider their personal parking requirements before purchasing a property and not off-load their "baggage" onto others. Councils and architects should confer with each other to modify building codes so that neighbours maintain harmony with each other.

 

Thats why councils (or whoever it is) determine whether the parking is time limited, unrestricted, or simply prohibited.

The reality of living in a metro area is that people will park outside your house if they are allowed to and want to.
If there are saftey concerns it will be designated as no parking.

 

It's not just 'on street' parking where there can be issues. I've been a party to two instances of nasty neighbours assuming they can park wherever they want.

The first one was as a teenager. My parents were driving me home one day & came to our place. There was another car parked right inside our yard, and absolutely nowhere for my father to park. Now for reference, none of the houses actually owned the land. It was owned by the coal mine.

Anyway, Dad went off his rocker, as he really didn't like the neighbour at all, and demanded that they remove the car. The response from the neighbour "It's not your land. I can park wherever I want".

Second instance was when we purchased our previous PPOR. It didn't have a side fence in the front, like many homes these days, and there was a huge bush, that was an eyesore. We removed the bush & discovered that the neighbour was parking on our land. When we asked him to park elsewhere in future, he obliged, but not before screaming obscenities at us, and creating an enemy of him. It even came down to him going off his rocker when one day one of our cats got out and walked across his lawn. Huge obscenities from his part, claiming that 'he wanted the grass to grow', and that if the cat did it again, it would be the last time.

 

I've heard of ”the mad cat woman” but not the ”madder anti-cat man”.

 

Well, now you have. I think what it came down to is that his driveway was only wide enough for one car, but he had two & wanted to park them side by side.