Front Garden Parking

[spider69]

TheCat Wrote:

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> if we all claimed ownership of the kerbside in

> front of our house, then why stop at a dropped

> kerb? Why can't I plant some trees or erect a

> shed? The outcome is the same, one less parking

> space for everyone else in the street...

You can put a bikehanger there. One less parking space

[Aristide]

err no, cos your car would be on the drive instead of the street and there is the residual 1/2 space, or am I missing something?

[rupert james]

James Barber Wrote:

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> Dropped kerbs need planning permission. The

> planning permission process involves posting a

> notice on lampposts only these days - letters to

> neighbours by planning officers generally no

> longer happen. Neighbours can object to planning

> applications.

> You can check via the Southark Council website if

> planning permission has been applied for.

> They also need a Traffic Management Order - these

> are decided at your community council by local

> councillors. Again you can object to these.

>

> At the last Dulwich Community Council we had a

> proposal for 3 new dropped kerbs for front garden

> parking (3 different homes). Due to the current

> administrations rules about double yellow lines it

> would have meant the removal of 12 parking spaces

> on Lordship Lane so we felt compelled to reject

> the proposals.

>

> It sounds like this neighbour has jumped the gun

> and planning enforcement could be called.

Cllr Barber where exactly on Lordship Lane?

Please comment on the current adminisations daft rules?

Is the comment some one made pro bike correct?

[intexasatthe moment]

Car taken off road and parked on forecourt - one less car

No parking across dropped kerb -one less parking space

No gain or loss to parking spaces .

Double yellow lines either side of dropped kerb - loss of 3 car parking spaces

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/473/guide_to_parking/3069/dropped_kerbs_and_driveways/4

[TheCat]

So to those that make the case that one car is off the street, so there is no net difference to parking space...the key point is that effectively whether or not there is a car parked there, a dropped kerb means the owner of that home has 'taken ownership' of the public space in front of their kerb. Can I get a partial rebate on my road tax please?

[spider69]

NO

[Sue]

rahrahrah Wrote:

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> I hate this trend for concreting front gardens. It

> really does change the character of a street /

> neighbourhood.

I hate it too.

One of the minor pleasures in my life is walking down the road and watching the front gardens change with the seasons. Which they don't do with concrete and - worse - astroturf.

Plus it can contribute to flooding because the water has nowhere to go (unless proper drainage is installed), and as somebody says above it is really detrimental to wildlife, including bees.

Maybe I'll start a Save Southwark Front Gardens group .....

[rupert james]

I too like to walk and see things change like the seasons.

Different bins, overflowing rubbish brings joy to my eyes.

[Penguin68]

I have off-street parking for 3-4 cars - so my one car length (slightly less, actually, since its only a car width that has to use it) dropped kerb relieves parking of net 2 cars in the street. It also means that tradesmen have somewhere off-street to park.

Not every dropped kerb allows only single cars to park - in some roads it is frequently 2 - which gives a net doubling of effective parking.

The council would be better employed implementing by-laws which ensured that new off-street parking was delivered via water permeable hard-standing (gravel over membrane, brick paviours over sand) rather than concrete or tarmac, than implementing stupid anti-car double yellows.

[Fly]

Park them in. Then park them out the next time. Leave a car so they cannot get into their garden for months. Deny ownership. Meanwhile plant a few fast growing trees in their garden.

[intexasatthe moment]

Penguin - if you walk around the mean streets of East Dulwich you'll find that parking more than one car at the front of your terraced house is not the norm .

Quite agree with your last paragraph re drainage and the deployment of council activity and funds .

[Jeremy]

If planned properly there should be no net loss in parking space. If neighbouring dropped kerbs/driveways are built adjacently, there should still be ~6m of space between the two dropped kerbs for one parking space. And it shouldn't be beyond the capability of mankind to enforce appropriate drainage (mind you... we are talking about Southwark council...). Obviously the space needs to be big enough to accomodate the car, without it jutting into the pavement.. some common sense is required.

As for the the aesthetic argument - people are already free to pave their gardens, let them grow wild, or whatever. It is not really anybody else's business.

I think the electric vehicle charging argument is valid... they're much more suited to urban driving than conventional cars... I doubt there any existing plans to roll out kerbside charging points across London. If I had a driveway, I'd probably buy an electric car.

[Ghlpc]

In my borough, Lewisham, the council actively sent an inspector to ensure the drive successfully had adequate drainage.

Indeed they send you some guidlines on how you or your builder can conform to this.

Only then would they sign off and allow the kerb to be dropped.

The council then insist that they use their own contractors for this, and just give you an approx date and a fixed price.

I always find it strange that there are so many housholds who obviously don't bother to apply for the kerb to be dropped - surely the council are missing an income stream here by ignoring?

It is frustrating, when you've done things the right way, obayed the rules and spent the money, that others cut corners and expect the same rights for off street parking!

Am I right in saying however that it is not against the law to park in front of a driveway as long as you are not blocking a vehicle in?? I'm sure I have read this somewhere....

[intexasatthe moment]

Jeremy - I need diagrams ! Would this work with terraced houses ? Would every household have to join in ? How would it accomodate people who wanted a front garden?

Ghlpc - agree with all you say ,tho not sure of legality of last sentence .I mean legality of action suggested in last sentence.

[Saffron]

TheCat Wrote:

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> So to those that make the case that one car is off

> the street, so there is no net difference to

> parking space...the key point is that effectively

> whether or not there is a car parked there, a

> dropped kerb means the owner of that home has

> 'taken ownership' of the public space in front of

> their kerb. Can I get a partial rebate on my road

> tax please?

No, because road tax was abolished last century.

[TheCat]

Saffron Wrote:

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> TheCat Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > So to those that make the case that one car is

> off

> > the street, so there is no net difference to

> > parking space...the key point is that

> effectively

> > whether or not there is a car parked there, a

> > dropped kerb means the owner of that home has

> > 'taken ownership' of the public space in front

> of

> > their kerb. Can I get a partial rebate on my

> road

> > tax please?

>

> No, because road tax was abolished last century.

Thanks. That was the point of my post. To find out about road tax.

[solar]

Road tax hasn't been abolished. You no longer have to display a tax disc, but you still have to pay it.

[Townleygreen]

"road tax"??

Roads are paid for out of general taxation.

What used to be road tax is now a pollution tax.

Many vehicles pay no tax at all, if they don't pollute - electric cars, cycles etc.

[twister]

We are one of these people with a dropped curb driveway. It was done before we moved in, It was one of the reasons that we brought the house. As for taking away parking spaces I am happy for somebody to put it back to a front garden, then we would be taking up 3 parking spaces on the road....instead of the one we take up ( two cars and a motorbike)Also both working full time leaving early and getting home late I struggle to keep the back garden in a reasonable state. I'm guessing an unkept front garden would be an improvement to the road? And the person who put the snotty note through my front door a few years ago, SIGN YOU NAME if you would like to complain. We had lived in the same house for 20 years before somebody starts insinuating that we a upstarts moving in.

[Lowlander]

solar Wrote:

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> Road tax hasn't been abolished. You no longer have

> to display a tax disc, but you still have to pay

> it.

To be pedantic, road tax was abolished in 1937. There is Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for which you used to get a tax disc but not any longer.

[uncleglen]

Concreting over the front garden should require planning permission because of the water run-off and flooding problem. Thickie neighbours of a friend said they didn't have flooding because they were on top of a hill so they could concrete over their garden.and have done....duh...where do they think all the water goes? At the bottom of said hill the properties have to have cellars pumped out and the road is flooded every time there is more than a bit of drizzle!

[rupert james]

Many years ago they used to suck out rubbish from road drains. Cannot remember the last time I have seen this.

If you look when walking take note of how many drains are blocked.

[Jeremy]

uncleglen - maybe not planning permission, but should fall under building control so the council can verify that correct drainage has been installed.

[Earl Aelfheah]

.

[Earl Aelfheah]

spider69 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> TheCat Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > if we all claimed ownership of the kerbside in

> > front of our house, then why stop at a dropped

> > kerb? Why can't I plant some trees or erect a

> > shed? The outcome is the same, one less parking

> > space for everyone else in the street...

>

> You can put a bikehanger there. One less parking

> space

The council can install a bike hanger, after consultation and with proper planning permission. They provide four new (bike) parking spaces which are available to anyone who wants to use them (on a first come, first served basis). It's not the same as a single household taking ownership of the space directly in front of their house, for their sole use.