I take it that's her front garden behind the wall? Yes, I can see why that might miff her a bit. I imagine you could probably get a car on and off without turning it into a muddy mess.
Arguable why people need huge vans parked in residential areas of course. Do you have a work place and if so can't you park the van there and commute there?
Besides that, I bet you can do a multi-point turn and avoid the verge.
Not that the verge is her property, but then the council may not be all that happy either. I can see concern that the mud spreads onto the path and if she slips up on it then you have bigger issues.
Is that actually a drop kerb in front of your drive? Doesn't look like it but it might be my crap eyes.Also, what happens if you come out facing the other way down the road?Presumably you would be trashing the bit in front of your own house instead of hers.
seems to me that turning the other way is the best option here
She is being annoying but she has a teeny bit of a point
The patch of grass is in front of her boundry wall. I can see why it might annoy her as well but I have no other way to get out once on.
If anyone's going to say then dont park on my drive in 99% of the time there's no other parking on my street as it's full. Some residents will park a car on their drive and put two on the road. My neighbour to the left has an off-road lanrover hobby thing on his drive which hasn't moved for over a year. So he'll park on the road as will his girfriend.
Astroturf it when she's not looking.
[url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackfriar-Road-Marking-Paint-Yellow/dp/B008QXX7R6 ]£20 and a stealth job[/url]?
It might be the only way to get out but does that make it ok?
If there aren't any cars parked to the left then I can turn left out of my drive. If there are cars there then its even narrower and I can't turn up the road as the road narrows...and no I dont have a single place of work that I can commute to.
Yes dropped kerb.
If my neighbour constantly did that to the path in front of my house, I'd not be too pleased either. I'd plant a nice rosebush there and a few rocks.
Standards are slipping, guys.
That drain is a shit mess and needs clearing...
explain to her your issue then park it on the kerb outside her house 😉
TBH i would not care personally about this but you need a solution if she is going to be arsey and i would look for one tat annoyed her personally as I think its a bit petty
If it were me, I'd not be happy with it seeing the picture.
Any way to widen your drive OP? surely that would solve the issue if it's possible.
Given how others park in the street, this seems the only way that the OP can use his own drive to park his own vehicle.
Seems reasonable to me, the council can hard surface the corner (which isn't the neighbours property?) or double yellow some of the street.
Looking at the pic, I think you approaching the council may not be a good idea.
The road and drive is more than big enough for a car to enter and exit without damaging the grass. Because you have a large commercial vehicle the council might just tell you to do one - or send you a bill for the grass.
Hard to say what is right and wrong as you need the van for your job but, I wouldn't really be bothered about the grass damage if I was your neighbour. If she didn't have a wall seperating her garden from the front then maybe different.
She's probably more miffed that you are anti social and horrible because you drive a van. 😆
.Given how others park in the street, this seems the only way that the OP can use his own drive to park his own vehicle.Seems reasonable to me, the council can hard surface the corner (which isn't the neighbours property?) or double yellow some of the street.
If he didn't have the massive van, we wouldn't even be needing the discussion. He could easily park a smaller one. I fail to see how it's the neighbours fault or the other people parking.
I wish it wasn't as it is but I've no other option. As for the road being wide enough you wouldnt be able do drive an average size car ( 5 series or family MPV ) out of the drive without cutting across at least the pavement..
massive van
Did I miss the van size being discussed or is that another bit of "imagination" to suit a point of view ?
Apologies if I did indeed miss it.
If he didn't have the massive van, we wouldn't even be needing the discussion.
Fake news!
He could easily park a smaller one. I fail to see how it's the neighbours fault or the other people parking.
No one is saying it is.
🙄
Nothing useful to add but it looks like the section of carriageway adjacent to the dropped kerb is on its way out.
As for the road being wide enough you wouldnt be able do drive an average size car ( 5 series or family MPV ) out of the drive without cutting across at least the pavement..
With respect, I'm not sure as I believe that. Though it's hard to tell with a bloody great van in the way (-:
Out of interest, where does the property boundary actually end? You say the grass isn't hers, but your drive appears to extend right up to the pavement. Does the council own the last couple of feet of your drive?
How wide is the dropped kerb, I can't tell from the photo?
Why do folk assume a vehicle is less likely to be targeted by thieves by parking on a drive, where they are more likely to have cover, have the homeowners distracted sat gawping at a loud idiot tube on the chimney breast of the sitting room, be less likely to be challenged by passers by...
Do exactly as you have been but whenever you have to talk to her just act with exaggerated good humour whilst not taking a jot of notice. With any luck she'll spontaneously combust with pent up petty rage.
Tricky problem - from what I see if someone parks outside your neighbour's house you can easily be blocked in because you can't cut the corner to get out? Maybe as mentioned above you could look at widening your own exit a little?
Looking at the picture I think there's an excellent chance that she owns that grass, unless you're willing to concede that the council owns three feet of your drive.
I live in a local town for local people, narrow old streets, some have driveways, some park on the street. A lot of the old duffers could barely hit their driveway if it was an airport runway. They put up polite little signs "please do not park here access needed to driveway opposite" (so not only have they bagged a space by dropping their kerb, they want the opposite one too) anyway, you could consider that ? Or ask the council to put yellow lines under that huge van.
Funkmasterp has the solution . . . widen your drive across the front of your property.
Surely you have some suitable tools in that great big van to do the job yourself?
All I can think is that there must be a better way to deal with this other than than to deliberately antagonise an a widowed OAP.
Jeezus that's a big van, why would you buy one that big if parking is tight at your property?
Looking at the picture I think there's an excellent chance that she owns that grass, unless you're willing to concede that the council owns three feet of your drive.
That's where I was coming from too, aye.
I an inclined to side with the neighbour.
Can you park the van somewhere else where it'll be safe? Then just bike/walk to pick it up?
You
Did you say council house? Round here commercial vehicles are not allowed to park in council house parking but that's flats not houses
You
Me?
Typo cos i am on a tablet
diazepam ?
Be nice
Bake her a cake
Don't forget the Picolax you have left over.....
Will go well with the Diazepam
Widen your drive so that you can start the manoeuvre further to your left.
My opinion: Use your initiative and find a way to avoid that corner of grass.
Make some gesture to the old lady to make her feel better.
What you need to do is install a ramp so you can put the van on two wheels, thus sailing over the grass.
I'd be miffed if that were my grass you'd wrecked. Give us a google satellite shot of your drive. Pretty sure your photo does not tell the whole story.
OP needs to learn about respect IMO. that's something a lot of van-men lack.
If that was my grass I'd have sunk a bollard in there over night as you slept.
Your only course of action is as follows:
Get someone in to turf the grass over, a very large bouquet of flowers, an even bigger box of chocolates.
And in terms of apologies I'd be thinking of something along the lines of a flotilla of biplanes trailing 'sorry I'm such a dick' signs from behind, followed by the red arrows dropping a thousand red rose and then you can go and park your van somewhere else and learn some respect.
Should just about cover it.
OP needs to learn about respect IMO. that's something a lot of van-men lack.
Vanist 😀
Interesting how these threads develop, isn't it? I was sort of with the OP at the start, but now, having seen the size of his van and the damage done, I'm not so sure!
When a car parks opposite theres no way I can get my van off the drive without hooking a right before my rear wheels are on eithdr the tarmac path or road.
I bet there is, you may need to reverse a bit first though.
Make it a "manoeuvre" rather than just driving out.
By the way, everyone has presumed that's your van in the picture. Is it ?
how about put down a few bits of wood to protect the lawn as you drive over, take you 2 seconds to put them down and remove them again each time you leave the property.
you are definitely in the wrong here i'm afraid.
Just as well the Op doesn't drive a lorry because some would still argue it is his right to park on the drive irrespective of any collateral damage.
Op is in the wrong simple.
So you cant get on the drive without going over the grass either.
Before you ever had to drive off, you had to drive on and over the grass. That should have told you the van was too big to use the drive.
If you had a larger vehicle would you have just wiped out the wall to get on there?
I agree with others. Time to stop just driving out, but turn it into manoeuvre so you **** up the grass in front of your wall instead.
Why don't you widen your driveway to the left so you can swing further over before you swing right and miss the grass.
Could you get a cargo bike instead?
If anyone did park on the right, how would you get out if there was cars parked opposite ?
I've a situation were I've a drive at the back of my house but I've double gates on it. Despite 2 massive keep clear signs and a dropped kerb, morons still park across it. I've resorted to parking the van across when the cars in the drive or I'm out in it and vice - versa.
Bit of a faff, but means I can get to work and it keeps an extra space free in the street.
Arguable why people need huge vans parked in residential areas of course. Do you have a work place and if so can't you park the van there and commute there?
Bloody hell but that is pretty damned rich coming from the STW crowd who are constantly posting up threads asking everyone to admire the sodding great van they're considering buying to replace their family car, and now you hypocritical buggers are slagging off someone who has a van that's exactly the same size and who actually needs it for work, instead of wanting one to pose around with.
If it was me, I'd spend £30 on a square metre of high quality artificial grass to put over that corner, with some of that plastic mesh underneath to help support it. The best stuff looks exactly like real grass, so the old bat would have no excuse for complaining about it looking unsightly.
As far as damage being caused to verges like that by cars, you should see the corner of one junction just along the road from me, there is a huge pit that's been eroded, and all of the kerbstones have been pushed over, when it rains there's a large puddle that's around a metre from apex to the inner edge, and probably two metres across; that has been caused by the local buses cutting across the corner as they swing out onto the main road, and the council don't seem to give a toss, so I'm pretty sure any complaints to the council about the OP's slight transgression will be met with rolled eyes.
Davidtaylforth I hope thats a joke right?? If not how does f*ck off sound? I drive a white van an you think you know me? What a dickish comment.
I will have a look at contacting the council and look at possibilities of driveway widening. And yes it is my van. I have a 4m load length for timber, sheet goods etc. I've also a work-bench in there a storage space for bikes when I go away. Most of you seem to want me sell the van, give up my self-employed existance. I could then buy an Audi, drive and look like an even bigger **** when I've a roof rack that says look at me and my shiny Enduro bikes. Never again bother the old lady who has tried to tell me its my fault her husband was in ICU, had me take down my shed. Will light a bonfire everytime washing goes on the line...
Some of you seem to be missing the point. If it was a family saloon car you'ld still clip the grass.
What if it was a camper would i have to park that down the road outside someone elses house? Should I ask my neighbors not to have so many cars so there's room for mine. Maybe I should ask them to come home from work after me and leave before me...
You DO NOT HAVE TO clip that bit of grass.
Why cant you drive straight, reverse back and left onto whatever is infront of your wall, then drive off?
You have to understand, we've only got part of the story. So it looks a lot like you've got a massive van and could potentially try harder. We may be wrong, but that's how it looks with the information we have.
Ignore the people saying you shouldn't have a van, if you need it you need it.
But... you should try to find a solution that doesn't involve making a mess of her grass. Whether that's a wider driveway, artificial grass, yellow lines opposite I don't know. Regardless of how she behaves towards you this isn't a problem she's caused.
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From this position I can not turn left without clipping the black gate-post
Yep, should be reversing back onto the grass in front of your hedge.
Could try harder. You are doing nothing to avoid the conflict. It just strikes me as you being lazy and just driving out shortest route possible.
Get rid of post and 3' of hedge, make drive 3' wider, you'll have plenty of room?
Take down the gate post and a metre of hedge and turn left over your own verge. Problem solved.
As an aside, your verge looks lovely and verdant, OP 🙂
OP, don't stress mate, she sounds like an old witch..is she really old...reckon she's got much time left?
It's a bit of grass, you need the van for work, there's not more you can do.
Bollards to the old bat.
Ah, the attitude which makes Britain great.
I assume growling lad is joshing.
Right? Right?
😆
You're going to get a lot of driving lessons from people who've never driven a van shortly.
Fwiw, from that pic, it look like a piece of piss to go in either direction.
@ nairnster..if my van doesn't fit when I drive out that way why will it fit if I reverse that way?
Yes my verge does look alright dedpite my neighbor driving over it evetytime he parks in front of his Landy that's stuck on his drive.
How about moving the black gate post, assuming it's yours, so you can get out?
Because you can reverse back onto your grass instead of turning straight away.
And to be honest, it looks pretty easy to get out. You just cant be arsed.
I'm with the OP.
But.. I'd offer to either have artificial grass put on the corner or take a metre of grass up & stick some flags down. It's not like she can even see the grass from the house & It wouldn't be as much for her to cut (assuming she actually cuts it)
Life's a tiny bit too short to be arsed about that much [s]grass[/s] mud.
Unless that photo is misleading, it looks like you've shitloads of room there and you've made a right bloody mess of the land outside someone else's house. Like I said before, turn slightly left as you're coming out, then swing it round to the right.
And if you can't get a family car in and out of there I'd suggest driving lessons, that's blatantly mince.
And with my <mod> hat on for a second, cool the aggressive responses please. </mod>
Keep the peace either way, do something about the grass as suggested, or take some of your side away so you can swing over your side.
Like I've said, I'd be wary of such a tight space as if someone parks near the damaged grass, you can't get out easily.
Biscuit anyone?
And with my <mod> hat on for a second, cool the aggressive responses please. </mod>
Yeah! You want some!?
[s]Spill my pint!?![/s] Wheelspin on my grass!?!
I'd be more annoyed at the van parked inconsideratly opposite your drive, forcing you to churn up the grass when you want to gain access.
Will light a bonfire everytime washing goes on the line...
Wow, that is some commitment. She must have a lot of stuff to burn to have a bonfire on standby for every time you hang the washing out.
Have we established who owns the grass yet? If that was mine I'd be pissed of as well
Have you thought about asking a better driver to help you out with the parking?
Approx 4.5m - 5m from red car to black post. 6m+ van.
Council tennant so I'll have to ask about moving the post. My philosophy is that I do not want to negatively impact someones life so being at logger-heads with this person is not on my agenda.With this in mind I absolutely detest someone trying to encroach on my and my family's wellbeing.
I do reckon her greenhouse in the back garden is less than a meter from the fence though.
Make your own mind up anout her. My fence was behind the fence that is behind my van now and she complained to the council that it blocked her view.
.Life's a tiny bit too short to be arsed about that much grass mud.
Sure, if it's you doing it to your own grass.if it's someone else doing it to my grass, I'm taking a strop
My fence was behind the fence that is behind my van now and she complained to the council that it blocked her view.
Eh? What fence is who's fence is where?
5 pages & counting, about some old biddy's grass.