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In a pickle with parking, need advice!
TabithaG
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 13:32
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Hi,

This is the first time I've done this as I'm not sure who to go to for advice and I don't know if anyone will be able to help me but here's my situation.....

We recently moved to a village in Staffordshire and we live in a small terrace cottage which has no parking. (The only one on the road that doesn't) Across the road and down a bit there is a grassed area which we and a few other residents that lived opposite used to park on. The parish council decided that they were going to turn this into a village green and stopped all parking on it.
Fair enough we thought and we began parking outside our home on the road. I have a small 306 and my husband has a white Vito van (he's a window cleaner) We don't block anyones driveways when we park here. To begin with, as the road isn't the widest in the world, we slightly mounted the pavement to make more room.
Within a few hours we had a community support officer round saying he'd had complaints we had parked on the pavement and were obstructing it. He said the council had provided parking at the village hall down the road, this is a 6 minute walk away from our house, with no street lights and we could park there. The CSO also said we were well within our rights to park on the road, so we did. We moved our vehicles and parked them fully on the road as close the pavement as possible, wing mirrors in.
We have been parking there for about 2 weeks and last night the same CSO came again, by now I'm pretty sick of seeing his face, and said we were going to have to move our vehicles as he's had a report of a vehicle which had to mount the kerb the other side of the road to get round them, (this could have only been a tractor or a big lorry as the road is not that small, neither of which we get a lot of.) He said we would have to park our cars at the village hall. He said if we were parked there tomorrow morning we would get a fixed penalty parking ticket. There's no signs, road markings or any other means of communicating that there is no parking allowed.
So now we have to park a 6 minute walk away from our house!

What I want to know is, can the CSO stop us from parking there when there's no signs or markings?
Anyone got any other ideas as to what to do, I don't know who to appeal to or anything! I feel like we've been victimised as this isn't effecting anyone else!

Any help would be much appreciated.
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post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 13:32
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Gan
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 13:44
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Does a CSO have the power to issue an FPN for parking ?
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Logician
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 13:50
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As newcomers, you may have upset the locals who are complaining, but it does sound as though your vehicles were causing an obstruction if other vehicles had to mount the pavement to get past, even if they were big. Agricultural vehicles seem to have grown huge. Perhaps move both vehicles to the village hall at first, then after a while ask the CSO if he thinks your car on its own would cause a problem.


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TabithaG
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:04
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We were parking on only 1 side of the road so surely if 2 vehicles passed one another and one was a tractor or lorry it would have to mount the kerb anyway.
It wouldn't be a problem as much to just park the car there, but as my husband is a window cleaner he has to park outside to fill up the tank in his van from our hose once a week.
I don't get home from work until half 5 and with winter coming up it's dark at this time and I can't believe I'm expected to walk home in the dark on my own, never mind when it snows!
I just don't know where we stand with our rights, or if we even have any!
Surely signs or road markings have to be put down as visitors sometimes park on this road too. Is the CSO going to come out everytime someone parks there?
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Aretnap
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:14
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QUOTE (Gan @ Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:44) *
Does a CSO have the power to issue an FPN for parking ?

Yes, if they're also appointed as traffic wardens. Many forces do this, Staffordshire seems to be one.

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TabithaG
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:22
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But surely unless signs or markings are put down, the CSO would have to see to everyone who parks there otherwise it'd be discrimination against us, who actually live on the road!
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Logician
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:40
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Contrary to popular belief, you have no particular right to park outside your own property, in fact one of the e-petitions is proposing such a right, better sign up!


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jobo
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 15:43
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QUOTE (Logician @ Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:40) *
Contrary to popular belief, you have no particular right to park outside your own property, in fact one of the e-petitions is proposing such a right, better sign up!


as logy says you have no divine right to park anywhere at all on a road, but you do have a right to use a road with out some one obstructing your passage if you know what i mean

however you do have a right to reasonable use of your property and the CSO cant unilaterally decided you cant park there because someone is moaning, you are either obstructing the highway to a criminal standard or your not and thats for a court to decided. case law3 mean it has to be an actual obstruction not a theoretical one, so someone must have been prevented from ther lawful use of the road, if they decided to drive a very wide vehicle down a very narrow road it is rather their own fault

you have two options, move your car or call his bluff and see if he issues a ticket for obstruction and argue it out in court


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jobo

anyone but Murray, Wish granted for another year,
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Inflatable Armad...
post Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 17:39
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QUOTE (TabithaG @ Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 14:32) *
snip


Are you able and willing to take some pictures of your car and your husbands van insitu and post up please or, give us a Google Street view location please?

I think that Jobo is right here, in that the issue is about actually causing a clear obstruction, as opposed to theoretically causing one. It sounds like one of your neighbours doesn't like newcomers or has a bee in the bonnet about this parking issue.

I would contend that if your street was not on a bus route, or a road where HGV or agricultural vehicle access is essential or regularly required, then as long as a bin lorry/fire engine sized vehicle can get passed then you are neither causing an obstruction in reality or theoretically. Also, if you do park with your wheels on the kerb, how much room would that leave? Again, less than wheelchair/double buggy width would be my measure of causing a potential obstruction.

I suspect that it is one person whom as made both complaints and that most people could not give a stuff about your parking. If you are not causing an obstruction in reality, then you might wish to call the PCSO bluff and see what he does next and then possibly fight it out in court. If you meet the criteria above, then I think it might be worth the fight... but that would be your call, even with advice on when we see the pictures/location!!!
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sgtdixie
post Wed, 26 Oct 2011 - 07:22
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What has been said about actually causing an obstruction is correct. The PCSO (or a Police officer) would need to see this or have a witness who is willing and able to give evidence.

Send a street view link and we may be able to assess.
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Ocelot
post Wed, 26 Oct 2011 - 19:59
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QUOTE (Logician @ Tue, 25 Oct 2011 - 15:40) *
Contrary to popular belief, you have no particular right to park outside your own property, in fact one of the e-petitions is proposing such a right, better sign up!


http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2829

Ludicrous, and only has 38 signatures so far!
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