Parking - Access to Property
Roads - Dropped Kerbs
You can apply to the Council for permission to have the road kerb in front of your property lowered to allow vehicles to drive across the footway and enter your property. There is a cost for this permission and you will also be responsible for the cost of all the alteration works.
Vehicle Access - Obstruction of access to property
If vehicles park on the street in such a way as to physically make it impossible for you to drive a vehicle from your property onto the road then the Police can deal with this as a case of obstruction.
Residents experiencing difficulties with vehicles parking across their dropped kerb access can apply for a white line 'H' marking across their driveway. This is a white line which is painted across the access parallel to the kerb and which has short end bars perpendicular to the line.
This is meant to show drivers this is an area where they should not park as they are likely to cause an obstruction. Unfortunately these lines have no legal standing and as a result drivers cannot be fined for parking on them but if the Police are called to deal with the matter the presence of the white lines would strengthen their case for taking action.
However, as these lines generally speaking only benefit the property owner there is a charge of £150 towards the administration and installation costs for any location where their use is approved.
The Council do not normally support the introduction of yellow line waiting restrictions to deal with parking in residential areas. As the Council has limited staff resources for enforcement, the priority areas for enforcement are the town centres and as a result of this lines in residential areas generally receive a lower level of enforcement. This means that any lines in residential areas are more likely to be abused by drivers parking on them and this leads to a general lowering of respect for all yellow lines.
If you would like to discuss problems with parked vehicles making it difficult for you to get into or out of your property please contact the Council on 01738 476518.
