Obstruction?

[Elsie2]

The back of my property opens up onto a cul de sac owned by a housing association, which i have to drive through to get to my double gates which is access to my drive way. A neighbour who lives behind me and whose front door faces my back gates (and whose property is still jointly owned by the housing assocation unlike mine), insists that by parking behind my gates, i am causing an obstruction. He has a small run-in on the front of his property which fits only one car, however, he has two and parks his second car in the unused space just next to my gates (behind my fence and causing no obstruction to my actual gates). However, when i choose to park there, he has taken to writing to my employer, writing to the housing association on the grounds that he believes i am causing an obstruction. I came home today in my work vehicle which lives on my drive, and found that as my personal vehicle was in the unused area to the side of my gates, he had parked next to it obstructing my entry to my drive. I went over and asked his wife to move the car and i would move my car to allow them to park where they wanted to. However, when the husband came out, he started telling me that by parking where i had, i was causing an obstruction etc. There are no "no parking" signs up as i have already checked with the housing association. He has never so much as approached me to ask if i would park else where, and this in itself has wound me up. Not sure if i should write a letter to him with some sort of legal mumbo jumbo in it. Oh, and he informs me today that he has put a camera on the front of his house so i'm being watched and that he will take me to court. Any advice??

[cassa333]

Is the space you park in, that he objects to, private land or part of the highway and on the road (as opposed to pavement)?

Does it actually block his access regardless of who parks there?

Although I don't know how accurate this bit is... My neighbour has said that someone can't park across access to a property if it has a drop curb if it is part of the highway. If he blocks it again call the HA or the police and see how quickly he moves it.

Find out who owns the land in question and take it from there. You could of course complain to the houseing association yourself and see what happens. It could come down to if he wants to object about obstruction you could argue he shouldn't park there anyway.

Or park there anyway and tell him if he needs to get out to ask you to mive it. He might do that at 1am though.

[cassa333]

PS smile and wave (nicely) at the camera!!!

Or

pretend it's not there and doesn't bother you. If he is 'gathering evidence' then he wants you to behave badly so don't.

You could ask the HA and land registry who owns the land as the road may be unabopted and possibly still owned by the original builder.

Basicly if it's highway and you are blocking his access don't park there if your not then the highway is fair game for everyone.

Ownership is the key issue I think.

[Elsie2]

Hi and thanks for the reply.
The area in question is actually on my side of the cul de sac as its directly behind my gates and he lives the other side of the cul de sac, so no, its not blocking any access to his property.
I believe the whole cul de sac is still owned by the Housing Association who i know he has been in contact with as i had a very standard letter from them a couple of months ago asking for all the people on our side of the cul de sac not to cause any obstructions. I rang and told them i wasn't causing an obstruction and apart from repeatedly saying "well as long as you're not causing an obstruction", i think they're only too aware that they can't actually stop us parking there, they were just trying to keep their tennant happy. I even rang the police to get further advice and even they say that as long as i'm not parking over pedestrian access or someone's access to their drive, they can't understand why he thinks he can take me to Court.
Funnily enough, since my last post on here, a random vehicle has appeared and has parked in the parking space the last two days and i wonder if he is using a friends car to simply prevent me or anyone else parking there....of course i could just be being paranoid!

[cassa333]

Is it part of the highway or a verge?

If it is a verge or unused land with no intrinsinc (building) value you may be able to buy it from the HA.

This would shut him up no end!!!

[Elsie2]

No, i don't believe it is part of the highway. I have a police constable coming round tomorrow to have a look at it, so i'm hoping he can give me more answers once he looks at it for himself. I'll keep that in mind about buying it from them, that would certainly keep his trap shut. :)

[cassa333]

I would also ask the policeman about the cctv he has.

Is it looking directly at or into your property?

I read somewhere that it is an infringment of some privacy law or somtehing.

[Elsie2]

The Police came round yesterday when i was out. My partner showed them the area concerned and they say there is categorically nothing wrong from a policing point of view with where i've been parking. They say that they don't want to get involved with neighbour disputes, but they were happy to go over and speak to my neighbour about both the parking and the CCTV. They say they can't force him to show them where the camera points (it looks across his drive, into my back garden and i can see it from my kitchen window) but he would have a word with him about the correct use of CCTV and warn him what may happen if it is used incorrectly.
My final step is to write a letter to the housing association telling them what i have done and to advise them that when he contacts them agaiin, which i'm sure he will, i do not expect any further letters advising me not to park there as any further letters of that nature will be considered as harrassment as far as i'm concerned.

[cassa333]

It's good to get the police point of view. Now you know your neighour is just being a pr@t.

Is it a piece of land that you can buy from the HA?

It might be that for the next twenty years, or until one of you moves, you either pretend to get on with this bloke or just ignore him...

I would be interested to hear what his response is though.

[Elsie2]

Yeah me too. The Police are supposed to be calling me to advise of the outcome but i havent heard anything yet. I'll post again once i have an answer. Thanks for you help.

[cassa333]

Do you have an update on this Elsie?

[Elsie2]

Not a lot to report i'm afraid. The police officer went to my neighbour and apparently, even though both cars were there, they got no reply. They left him a card asking him to call but after i spoke to the officer a couple of days ago, my neighbour hasn't called him. He says there isn't a lot more that he can do with regards the situation but to call him back if i have any further issues. I am writing a letter to the Housing Association advising them of the situation and i intend to send a copy to my neighbour so he is aware he hasn't frightened me off and i have done something about him.