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4 months ago
26
Residents say they are at their wits end after a jobsworth council 'banned' them from parking on their own driveways.
For 50 years, Ed Fisher and his wife had no problem parking their two cars outside their home until they and neighbour Treena Smart received a threatening letter two weeks ago.
Faced with a £1,300 bill to get the curb lowered on a pavement they don't even own, the trio from Southampton say they have been left furious and unable to afford the council's demands.
Southampton City Council (SCC) bosses have now said they are not allowed to park on their own driveways because they have to mount the curb and cross the pavement to access their homes.
Mr Fisher, 78, told MailOnline: 'We used our driveway to park our two cars for 50 years, up until two weeks ago.
'We have to be responsible for paying for the dropped curb ourselves! It smacks of 'we haven't got much to do, so we'll go and get 'em'.
Ed Fisher (pictured), 78, said he was 'incensed' by Southampton City Council after he and his neighbour were told they would have to foot a £1.3k bill for a dropped curb
Mr Fisher has now been told he cannot park on his drive (right) as it means he would have to mount the council-owned curb to do so
Pictured: The driveway of Mr Fisher (right) and his neighbour Treena Smart (left) who received threatening letters from Balfour Beatty and Southampton City Council
'For all these years we've parked there, I used to put little bits of wood to help me up on to the curb. The council pointed out it was an obstruction and had to be removed.
'What incenses me is they are spending time doing that and there are lots of other issues here like potholes.
'The only way this will come to an end is if we get a dropped curb. You have to pay so much just to get a quote.
'I would hope our neighbours are receiving letters, they shouldn't have singled us out.'
Mr Fisher, his retired French teacher wife, who wished to remain anonymous, and Treena received a joint letter from highway engineers Balfour Beatty and SCC on June 27.
The letter accused the trio, who live in the Woolston area of the city, of breaking the law by mounting a four-inch curb to get onto their respective driveways.
It went on say the neighbours will be 'monitored' and they must stop using their driveways or face 'further action'.
It read: 'During a recent highway inspection, it has come to the highways authority's attention that the occupiers) of this property are gaining vehicle access to the property by unlawfully crossing the kerbed footway and this could lead to damage of the public highway.
'In addition, this access is being obtained by the leaving of ramps on the carriageway causing a hazard to other highway users. As the highways authority we have a duty to ensure the highway is maintained for the safety of all users.
'It is an offence under the Highways Act 1980 to cross the footway unless a correctly constructed dropped kerb is in place and so you are respectfully advised that using the footway in this manner must stop upon receipt of this letter and the ramps removed.
'We will be monitoring this area and should it be deemed necessary further action will be taken.'
Mum-of-one Ms Smart, 52, a mobile hairdresser, who has lived at her Woolston home for 18 years, said: 'They said if they find us in our driveway, we will be fined. It's the sheer pettiness of it.
'It's not our fault, it's absolutely ridiculous.
Ms Smart said the council's behaviour was 'absolutely' ridiculous and said she and her neighbours were being punished for something that is 'not our fault'. Pictured, the pavement they would have to mount to reach their drives
Lee Burton (pictured), who has lived in his house for six years, told MailOnline he was quoted a whopping £700-£750 to remove each curb stone on the council-owned pavement just to get a dropped curb installed
'They're saying unless we get a dropped curb from Balfour Beatty, we can't park. But we are still forced to drive over their property whether we've got a dropped curb or not.
'It's about £1,300 to get a dropped curb installed, and we are not allowed to use a ramp ourselves. We have to go through the council to get a curb drop built. They say we can't use any other builders. We haven't got £1,300!
'We've already paid £160 to the council for them to take a photo of the pavement to get a dropped curb done.
'I have to park in front of our drive, stop my clients parking on the drive, it's embarrassing to say you can't park on our drive.
'Why its taken them so long, when we have been here as long as we have, to suddenly just make these demands, it's disgusting.
'I've just had an operation two and half weeks ago, we got a letter through the post. I'm cheesed off.
'It's the inconvenience of knowing if you go out, will you have a space outside.'
Knighton Road is a public highway meaning anyone can park there and the neighbours say they often get blocked in.
Treena is now forced to park her BMW 220i on the street, with Ed and his retired French teacher wife also forced to leave their Mazda 2 and Toyota Yaris on the road.
Mr Fisher spent decades working in Hampshire County Council's Highways department so knows a thing or two about the ordeal he's found himself in.
He admits that while it is illegal to cross a footpath, he's been left with no logical choice to access his own home.
He explained: 'Technically, under section 184 of the Highways Act, it is an offence to drive along a footway. If you are parking on a footway, you must have driven along it in order to park on it!
'It is illegal to bump up over the curbs, you have to have a proper crossing.
'We've got room for two cars. They say it could damage the footway, but so do cars parking with two wheels on it.'
The letter received by Ed Fisher and neighbour Treena Smart warning them not to mount the pavement in front of their homes
Pictured: A car parked on a driveway down the street from Mr Fisher and Ms Smart that does have a dropped curb
Mr Fisher, his wife and Treena are not the only residents on their road impacted.
Further up the street, Lee Burton, who has lived in his house for six years, told MailOnline he was quoted a whopping £700-£750 to remove each curb stone on the council-owned pavement just to get a dropped curb installed.
He said: 'Four or five they were going to do. It's £3,000. I said I'm not doing that, that's ridiculous. It's their property.
'Why can't I get a registered builder to do it because they would do it for a hell of a lot cheaper. I would quite happily pay a builder to do it if its my responsibility.
'I don't know why the council have to do it? I don't understand why the council has control over who does it? They are forcing you to pay whatever they want you to pay.
'It's crazy. It would surely be in their interest for us not to park in the road. You've got kids, emergency services, it covers your eyesight for hazards. Cars get damaged by lorries clipping mirrors.
'It's the council isn't it, what do you expect!'
Lee has not received a letter warning him of mounting a curb like his neighbours.
Another lady, who did not want to be named, said she and other locals used to use plastic ramps to navigate the curbs onto their properties but the council banned them.
She said: 'We had a letter from the council saying we had to take them away because we weren't allowed to drive over the pavement onto here.
'They said if they saw them out again they would take them away.
'We applied to have a disabled blue badge space, they said we couldn't because we have a drive, but we can't use our drive - so what do we do!
'We looked a few years ago about dropping the curb, it was £1,500 then, that's now gone up, we can't afford that, it's absolutely out of the question.'
While another man on the road said Balfour Beatty and Southampton City Council can 'do one' and its not his responsibility to pay for their property.
He added: 'I'm cracking on. It's never been a problem for my mum or me. We've lived here for decades.
'I'm not going to be told I'm paying for something that isn't mine by that council.'
Mrs Fisher says no-one from the council or Balfour Beatty has come out to talk to them about the issue.
She added: 'They shouldn't have singled us out.'
Balfour Beatty and Southampton City Council were approached for comment.
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