downcurbs - right or request?

[5imon]

need some advice from re council nabobs

we've got no downcurb out the front of chez 5imon, and we want to use our drive in the way god clearly intended by putting a car on it.

asked the council if they could put one in.

?973, they replied.

is that normal? anyone else asked the council to do something on the roads outside and then been slapped with an invoice? i would have thought veee-hic-ulaaar access to your own pad would be part of the constitution, but then i know buggerall 'bout politics.

[Mick Mac]

We did it a few years ago and yes that's about what it costs. It seems cheap to me as you get permanent free parking outside your house and noone can block the way.

Would you expect them to take away a part of the road and pavement from the general public and allocate it to you without charging you?

[Bellenden Belle]

Yes - when I lived in another borough (Barnet) we were quoted an awful lot more to do this. And to be fair, there is labour and materials involved to create access which will benefit only the homeowner, so it does seem fair to charge.

[PeckhamRose]

Why not put something against the curb so the car can roll up on to it.

Remember some idiot council recently though decided to block such cars who had done that. Overnight metal sticks were installed vertically in front of the cars so the people couldn't get out. Never mind they may have been visiting or taking someone to hospital or something that day. Hate petty council officers.

Anyway, I wouldn't pay when putting a little pole against the curb should work just as well. As long as he lies still. :D

[GSJ57]

Just spat my coffee... thanks for the laugh PR!

[Brendan]

It is my understanding that the right to a dropped kerb was enshrined in Magna Carta in the 13th century but stolen from the common man by Thatcher during the rise of Postmodern British Fascism in the late Space-Age along with traditional pint pots and white dog poo.

But then some people will believe any old shit.

[sophiesofa]

I think it's fair to charge but not profit from - ?973 sounds sort of reasonable I guess. It will probably add more value to your house should you ever want to sell.

[PeckhamRose]

I bet if you did it yourself and well, for ?2.50, they'd decide it was against some rule. Course they want the money!

[agathoise]

Count yourself lucky that they "let" you have permission for a driveway of useful width - when we applied they would only give permission for about 1/3 of our (average ED terrace) frontage width - which would not fit anything wider than a Smart car and would therefore be utterly useless, despite nothing unusual about our situation and virtually every other house around us having a full width dropped curb. When we queried this we were told that they would have to speak to the specific surveyor to ascertain the reason. Guess what? Despite following this up on several occasions we got no answers - this is my ongoing experience of Southwark Council (we've had similar experiences with several departments). We were told that we'd be fined if we put in a driveway without paying for the dropped curb - some legislation about driving over un-dropped curbs was referred to. I'm damned if I'm going to pay the best part of a grand for a dropped curb that isn't wide enough to use, and in the absence of getting any sense out of Southwark I've resigned myself to shlepping four kids, shopping etc. half a block or so any time we come home after 5pm :-(

[Mick Mac]

In some areas of london you will prob pay close to ?900 for an annual parking permit just to park outside your house. So as a one off charge the kerb lowering and white line is good value. Its also really safe to get the kids in the car rather than on a busy road so def a good investment for those with families.

[woofmarkthedog]

5imon...

It's rather simple....

Just apply the Y W Y P principle for anything

You Want You Pay

W**F

[Drxyster]

We had a "Cross Over" installed by Southwark about eight years ago and the cost then was about ?800.00. Please bear in mind that if you drive your vehichle over the public footpath and cause any damage whatsoever, the coucil will charge for the repair and probably also fine you.In addition if anyone were to fall or have an accident due to damage you may have caused to the footpath you may be set upon by an barrage of "No win No Fee" lawyers.

[Carrie]

It is actually an offence to drive on the pavement - so if you adopt Peckham Rose's suggestion you could find yourself facing fines from Southwark.

[womanofdulwich]

For the past 20 years my now (84 year old) Dad has used a wooden ramp to put a slope between the pavement and road outside his house. He refuses to pay the money for a dropped curb.HE religiously pulls out the wooden ramp and uses it to get out the drive, then put it away, and uses it again on his return.

My in laws put small concrete ramps in line with their car tyres ( about 8" wide).

Aren't people funny!!

[Drxyster]

GOOD LUCK TO YOU'RE OLD DAD. AT HIS AGE HE SHOULD GET THE "CROSS OVER" FOR FREE.A MAN OF 84 HAVING TO MOVE A RAMP TO GET HIS CAR IN AND OUT,RAIN,SNOW, ICE ETC, NOT ON.

[womanofdulwich]

Yep I agree- but it is the principle ! He could afford it after all!

[The Minkey]

You could always dollop a strip of tarmac to create a ramp effect, much like some of the traders do on Rye Lane. However, bearing in mind the experience of my OH who cracked his ankle hitting one such ramp while running for the bus, you could open yourself up to injury claims. So, not really a serious suggestion.

Might just be worth biting the bullet on this one. Having said that, quite a few houses in my road, have turned part of their front gardens over to parking space and not one ramp between them.

[agathoise]

I'd be quite happy to pay for a *useable* dropped curb, but was offered one too narrow for any ordinary car to use. Tbh I'd be happy to pay for a parking residents' permit if it would guarantee me a spot near my house... As it is we can rarely park within 10 houses of our home if we come home late, and this is increasingly the case in the day as well. Sure a driveway's a safety no-brainer if you have little kids (and we have a few), *if* you can get the ok for a useable one! Bitter, moi? ;-)

[Applespider]

We were quoted a similar amount for a drop kerb outside our place. The annoying thing is that we would need two drops in order to make full use of the drive (as several of our neighbours have); one on either side of a tree. But we were told we could only get one on one side of the tree - the smaller side - because there were speed bumps too close to the other.

This seems particularly stupid since currently there are no road markings to stop anyone parking right up to - or even on - the speed bumps so clearing some cars off the road with a drive to discourage parking in front of it, would seem to be a win-win. As it is, we regularly have idiots park across our 'drive' blocking the cars in without apparently any way to stop them.

[woofmarkthedog]

Well....

One of these should sort the "idiots" out

http://www.wpclipart.com/armed_services/tanks/Sherman_Tank_WW2.png

All you need is one of the "Jones's" in your street to buy one & you can follow suit

"Meh, look where they've parked this time"

W**F

[Mick Mac]

agathoise Wrote:

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

> I'd be quite happy to pay for a *useable* dropped

> curb, but was offered one too narrow for any

> ordinary car to use. Tbh I'd be happy to pay for a

> parking residents' permit if it would guarantee me

> a spot near my house... As it is we can rarely

> park within 10 houses of our home if we come home

> late, and this is increasingly the case in the day

> as well. Sure a driveway's a safety no-brainer if

> you have little kids (and we have a few), *if* you

> can get the ok for a useable one! Bitter, moi? ;-)

I don't know the reason for not getting a proper width space. But sometimes it is a lamppost or a speedbump nearby.

Have you tried a brown envelope?

I once asked the guys from the council, who had come to pick up a few old scrap doors for us, to take away some other bits as well. This guy stood and looked at me for so long I thought he was either deaf or dumb or both. Until my mate said "he wants a tip". I gave the guy a tenner, he still looked at me and said nothing - I gave him another tenner - then he opened his mouth and said "of course sir - no problem".

[Drxyster]

Regarding vehicles blocking "Cross Overs" do any of the "Legalites" on the forum know what the position is regarding this problem.

In other words, would the Police attend if called and would they do anything, or local council et al.

[omniprescient]

Applespider - you cannot stop people parking on the road outside your house if there is no drop-kerb - the fact that your car is blocked in is neither here nor there. You have no rights over that piece of the public highway unless you create a cross-over. The blocking of a private access (which a cross-over creates) is in theory a private civil matter and the police are not obliged to interfere (as opposed to the blocking of a public access which in all likelihood would be a breach of the highways act and consequently a criminal matter).

[Keef]

In general, I think ?1000 is a small price to pay. Your property ends at the public footpath, so yes, you should have to pay, to have a drop kerb put in, which more or less extends your property to the road, and stops anyone else from parking there.

Definitely not a "right".

[omniprescient]

Not so Keef. Your property in all likelihood extends out to the middle of the road outside your house regardless of the existence of a cross over but becuase it is a public highway the public have rights (i.e. to park and pass) over your property. In theory you could build a basement under your property which extends out to the midddle of the road as long as you provided adequate support to the public highway above.