Car-parking issue with neighbours

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Eddie Peters

Registered User
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I'm a one-car house owner living in an estate for 20+ years. It's a typical estate i.e. driveway space + another car space at front of property. A few lads rent next door but have a '99 reg in their driveway and a '00 reg in front of their property for the past few years (none taxed or NCT'd but I expect it doesn't matter as the cars never move). Another car will always park in front of my property but I work late and can't control this. Up to now I had no problem with this - until the neighbours across the road began to park on their road side and now I have problems just trying to park in my driveway.
Any suggestions appreciated:(
 
Report any untaxed / unNCTed / uninsured cars to the LA who will address the issues with the owner.

Contrary to popular belief, no-one has a divine right to park outside their own home. If they're not parking outside your gate I'm not sure what you can do other than ask nicely for a bit of extra "wriggle room".
 
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Thanks for the replies and it's pointless trying to reason with them. I did realise that the space outside my house is part of a public road. Sorry for the rant but it's often difficult to park after working late - another disadvantage of being employed :(
 
Eddie Peters said:
Thanks for the replies and it's pointless trying to reason with them. I did realise that the space outside my house is part of a public road. Sorry for the rant but it's often difficult to park after working late - another disadvantage of being employed :(
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If cars are restricting access to your driveway they are breaking the law. Pop down to your local Garda Station and ask advice from the community liaison Garda. They are well used to dealing with this sort of thing.
 
Eddie Peters said:
A few lads rent next door but have a '99 reg in their driveway and a '00 reg in front of their property for the past few years (none taxed or NCT'd but I expect it doesn't matter as the cars never move).
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Whatever about the one in the driveway, the fact that a car never moves doesn't allow it to have no tax or NCT if it's on the road (assuming it is a public road?). You can get on to the local council and report it as an abandoned vehicle. Once it's removed, that will free up a space, no?
 
If trying to reason with your neighbours is out of the question you have no alternative only to take some action. The gardaí have little or no interest in situations such as this. Neither does the local council unless the registration plates are removed from the offending car(s). Before the vehicles can be defined as "abandoned" the registration plates must be removed. Then there is a chance that the council will tow the vehicles away.

With an electric drill, it takes only a few seconds to remove a plate. Getting permission to remove the plates may be a problem.
 
Hello,

We have a somewhat similar problem.

We live in a small cul de sac with 20% of the houses rented out. Each rented house has 2-3 cars associated with it. None of the tenants are using their driveways (which could accomodate 1-2 cars per house). To add to the problem, some other neighbours are now parking on the road rather than in their driveways, in an attempt to ensure they can manoeuvre in and out of the (now very busy) cul de sac. The net result is that those drivers last in or first out are struggling to get their cars into their own driveways - given too many cars are parked on the narrow road, restricting the remaining cars from being able to get a proper turn into their own driveways.

Some yellow lines would certianly be of assistance, but how do you go about getting them in a cul de sac and on what grounds ?

Going to war with some of the neighbours is not the preferred option, needless to say.
 
Yes MrEarl, I can empathise with what you are going through. We live in a cul-de-sac too which is a free parking area and motorists use the area for a cheaper park-n-ride as there is a bus-stop near. They are not doing anything illegal and are entitled to use the road for the no cost parking. So the residents now park on the road keeping public parking to a minimum leaving room in their driveway for relations, visitors etc.

You don't have to go to war with your neighbours but a Give Respect, Get Respect attitude will go a long way both ways. Ensure you get your deserved respect so get your retaliation in first.
 
Leper said:
You don't have to go to war with your neighbours but a Give Respect, Get Respect attitude will go a long way both way.

Ensure you get your deserved respect so get your retaliation in first.
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I agree 100% with your first sentence.

But your second sentence appears to be somewhat contradictory.
 
You're sending out a hurling team to play against a team that's known to play tougher than the rules allow so you instruct your team to play within the rules and be as tough as you can possibly be from the start. If the opposition continue as expected, you continue likewise. In Cork, it's called Getting Your Retaliation In First.

In the car parking situation here my advice would be to park cars available legally on the road, leave the cars there for as long as possible (for days if necessary), cause others to feel what you have been feeling. Then I guarantee respect will be given to you and you can then continue to give respect to them. No further action should be required. (Cutting Cork Accent coming up . . .)So get your retaliation in first, boy !!!!
 
Leper,

While I understand where you are coming from, the thought of leaving my car on the street overnight does not appeal given the higher risk of damage or theft etc.

I think I need to find a way to get yellow lines put down and then enforced, thats the real solution. The road is quite narrow and while it accomodates two way traffic, there is a bend on it where it might be argued that it's a danger to park for example. Unfortunitely, I don't even know how to start going about getting DCC (or whoever is responsible) to take a look at this - if it is the DCC I'm probably doomed before I start, they only seem to care about bike lanes these days anyway :rolleyes:
 
MrEarl, you will probably be belting your head against a stone wall by merely contacting the local council and asking for double yellow lines. Phone your local TD; this is the sort of thing they enjoy and keeps them in the local public eye (parish pump politics). I know a local council employee whose job is to paint yellow lines. A visit to your area (provided there are no cars there) will have yellow lines placed neatly within half an hour. Of course, it all has to be done through correct procedure.
 
If untaxed cars or cars without NCT are on the public road then the owners are liable for prosecution. I would suggest writing to the local Garda Superintendent outlining the issue. That should result in some action.
 
Ah! Vanessa, the innocence of you. I can imagine the guffaws in the local garda station on receipt of such a letter. Let's say the gardaí act on the letter (which of course they won't) and place tickets on each of the offending cars (or even towing them away).

Mr Earl's neighbours will have a good idea of who wrote the note to the gardaí. Then it gets interesting. Worse again the well behaved neighbours will be on Mr Earl's case as a result of bringing the neighbourhood to the attention of the gardaí. I know you are probably rolling your eyes upwards in disgust, but dear ol' Ireland has a tricky way of looking at people who are in the right.
 
@Vanessa, I got excellent results emailing the local authority with pictures of cars, reg nos, discs on windscreens which were dragging the entire tone of our little estate down. Some were being sold off piece-meal for parts, some were being advertised for sale, and some seemed to be abandoned. 3 cars in the first two categories were moved to private property from the public road and two others in the last category vanished. Whether the council or the owner(s) vanished the last two I neither know nor care, but the place looks better.

My next campaign is against the footpath parkers, forcing kids, dog walkers, people with crutches, prams and pushchairs onto the road.
 
Leper said:
We live in a cul-de-sac too which is a free parking area and motorists use the area for a cheaper park-n-ride as there is a bus-stop near. They are not doing anything illegal and are entitled to use the road for the no cost parking. So the residents now park on the road keeping public parking to a minimum leaving room in their driveway for relations, visitors etc.
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Hi Leper

Talk to your neighbours and suggest that you get disk parking in the area. If a majority agree, the local authority will probably implement it for you. The commuter parking will disappear overnight.

In Dublin, the Resident's Parking Permit is €80 for two years. So you can park outside your house and visitors can use your drive. Or you can park in your drive, and visitors or a second car can park in front of the house.

It's very important that you make sure that the residents ask for it. If one individual asks the local authority for it, and they propose it, some will object on the grounds that the council is trying to make money from the scheme.

Brendan
 
Thanks for that Brendan, but the last thing my neighbours and I need is a pay parking zone outside our houses. Most of us are happy enough to get along with the park-n-riders provided our driveway entrances are not blocked.
 
Hi Leper,

How about sticking a "Do Not Park Here" sticker on the offending car?

Firefly
 
I don’t think that’s the way to go Firefly.

If Leper put a sticker on my car I would be straight down to the local Garda to report him for interfering with and damaging my car.
 
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