Southport UK woman breaks the law by driving on pavement to park on her driveway
23 replies, posted
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-45225045
A homeowner has been told she could be breaking the law by parking on her own driveway in Merseyside. Helen Maloney, of Emmanuel Road, Southport, said she received a letter from
Sefton Council as she does not have a dropped kerb and has to drive over the pavement.
About 20 Sefton residents had been sent similar letters, the council said. The homeowners had been asked to take the "necessary corrective action", a spokesman for Sefton Council
said. The Local Democracy Reporter Service said the letter told residents to "construct a crossing" if they wanted to continue parking on their drives.
Failure to comply could result in the council carrying out the work by default - and recovering the full cost from homeowners. Ms Maloney said: "The letter said I can't park on my own
driveway because I don't have a dropped kerb.n"Apparently, by driving over the pavement in front of my house to get on to my drive, I am breaking the Highways Act."
A spokesman for Sefton Council said: "The continuous driving over pavements can lead to the damage of a footway creating uneven surfaces which can also lead to trip hazards.
"This resident has since been in touch with us with the view of resolving the matter and we await further contact with her."
The person sending out these letters is someone who was either spiteful, immensely bored or both.
The article doesn't make any mention of it but I'm assuming based off that picture it isn't a new house and the lack of the dropped kerb obviously isn't the fault of the homeowners, in which case this must have been going on for years. Why would this suddenly have became a problem?
For anyone like me who didn't know what a dropped kerb is exactly due to dialect differences, this is what it is, called a curb cut in the US.
http://www.kebleheath.com/wp-content/gallery/dropped-kerbs/153-wheelman-road-complete.jpg
I thought the council will own the pavement in all likelihood. Although that in itself is confusing as the council is instructing her to modify the pavement itself. I wasn't aware very many home owners owned the space before the road. Especially in housing estates.
Same, I'd assume the pavement belongs to the council, as does the road, so they're free to go fix it themselves and piss off imo.
If only governments were obligated to fix the roads that citizens pay for... Oh wait.
This country has far too many jobsworths in all of the wrong places.
When you have a driveway you're supposed to have a dropped curve, as a regular one can get easily damaged from repeated use.
As far as I am aware you just phone the council up and they come out to do it.
Like this isn't news.
Local council here will drop it for about 100£. It's none news. If you can afford a car like that and a house like that, you can afford to drop it.
Are you aware it costs hundreds of pounds to get a dropped kerb? People don't always have money so spare
So you're telling me they got houses there that don't come with a dropped kerb by default and thus she's been driving over a full sized kerb to get to her house this whole time?
I drive a truck and I wouldn't even want to do that over and over again. Unless I'm missing something here...
Its more common on older houses, especially ones with odd front yard layouts. But from the picture in OP, there is like no excuse for a full kerb there.
Also is it just me or is it actually odd that the driveway actually extends onto the pavement?
get a hammer and smash the curb till its dropped
Just buy a monster truck, problem solved
Oi! If it pleases the crown, may I proceed on to me own property constable?
But like, it's not something a lot of people would know or care about. Nobody wants to spend three figures on something that they don't think they need; This woman's car can deal with that kerb no problem. I drive a low car so I'd probably care but a lot of people just wouldn't even think about it, especially here where crossing kerbs and parking on sidewalks (because there's just not enough parking spaces) is the norm.
People often add driveways to older houses that were built before cars were a consideration.
Im pretty sure that would require a hammer license.
Looking at the road on google maps, the kerb is quite shallow anyway, almost seems not worth the effort. The end houses seem to have been cheaper builds that don't come with driveways or garages like the rest of the properties on the road so they've had DIY driveways added by their owners at somepoint in the past.
https://s26.postimg.cc/dhw073oft/kerbsbsbsb.png
(One side has had the kerb dropped the other side hasn't)
Still, no need for the local council to be cocks about it.
oh its a baby curb, I was really confused as to how she kept driving over it as I know my front bumper would definitely hit
It is likely a safety measure. A dropped curb offers an indicator to pedestrians that vehicles may use that part of the sidewalk.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.