Access to Property
Roads - Dropped Kerbs
You can
apply to the Council for permission [PDF: 16Kb] 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 477393.
