I moved into a property last year and has been having the issue of people parking and driving over our natures strip.
This damages the lawn if happens after heavy rain, which leaves a deep tyre marks on the lawn.
I noticed neighbouring properties has timber bollards installed, so i contacted Brisbane City Council late last year asking if it is possible to get a permit to install timber bollards to deter people from parking and driving over the lawn.
The Councils Response was that they cannot permit me to install timber bollards. Instead, they advised me to tell people not to park when it happens.
I've been trying that methods for about 3 months now, obviously this does not work.
They either give you weird look and move their car. Or they ask why i am asking them to move the car. And i cannot do this with the people driving over the natures strip.
The street in front of our home is narrow which gives us enough space to fit two cars. If two cars stop next to each other temporarily, the street is blocked.
This sends the traffic over our natures strip.
Yesterday, this happend again, a construction truck (doing the work on the house opposit) blocked the street, and another drove on our lawn which left a deep tyre marks on the natures strip.
Situation
The Tyre Marks
Iike others in the community, i have been maintaning the natures strip when i was doing my lawn, but as this is keep happening, i am exhausted to constantly fix this issue on my time, effort, and expense.
A lot of the houses on our street has this timber bollards installed. So i cannot shake of the thought that installing the timber bollards will stop people from parking or driving over the natures strip. And i do not understand why they do not allow this to be installed now when a lot of the house around us has it.
Now, i have contacted the council again regarding issue and waiting for their responses. And i feel they might just reject my request again.
Has anyone had similar issues? If so, how did you resolve your issue? Or is there anything i can do to stop this madness?
Is There Anything You Can Do to Stop People from Parking & Driving over The Natures Strip
Last edited 20/01/2021 - 09:17
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had similar issue in previous property, but it was a weird scenario, half of the front lawn was technically council land, so the letter box is half way up the driveway. the postie bike wouldnt go from the footpath > letter box, instead he would just ride straight across everyones lawns. all the neighbors pretty much put large rocks and planted heaps of trees/plants which then made it impossible to drive straight across everyones lawns
as others have mentioned, just chuck some large rocks on the nature strip. if the council asks: wasnt me. if they move the rocks, just make them magically re-appear again. i doubt neighbors would complain/dob you in, and i doubt council would have any way to ever find out about your small neighborhood issue :)
Dog shit. Dog shit everywhere.
Park you own car there.
Dig a big f**king hole there. When their cars fall into the hole, fill it up, preferably with the car still in it. Send them the bill for ruining your new pool.
while there are some good (and amusing) answers, I suggest that if you go with the idea of planting trees or shrubs, you contact 'dial before you dig' to check where the utilities are first. I suspect you're in a newer area with everything underground, and there could be "problems" with digging any hole in the ground.
And as for planting trees/shrubs - most Councils have a 'free trees' service where you can get a couple of trees/shrubs from them for free (well, your rates pay for them, so "free").
A couple of those, with surrounding concrete edging (say, a couple of these - https://www.bunnings.com.au/custom-concrete-products-plain-e… - for each plant), space them nicely (less than a car-length apart) across the front (leaving room between your property line and them for the Postie to deliver mail).
When they grow up, bonus 'privacy' points :)
my 2¢
Just found out you can request a tree to be planted by the council… Don't know why the council officer didn't bring this up when I asked if there are other ways if bollards are rejected. I've booked for the councils inspectors visit. Hope I can discuss this issue with the inspector and have the council tree planted to block people from parking on the nature strip.
If anyone else has same issue, you can Request Tree here or by calling the council.
Whatever you do, don't opt for eucalyptus trees. They'll be worse for your lawn.
Our old house had it on the front nature strip and the falling leaves continually blocked the drains, ruined the grass and made the area look messy. Spoke to the council about these and they wouldn't do a thing other than sending out someone to clean it… Other houses which had pines etc growing didn't have the same issues.
Thanks for the tip. I will try to avoid this when the inspector comes.
This is a great option, especially since the council takes care of procuring, planting, and maintaining the tree.
After the tree is established, I suggest you plant some low-maintenance native plants (shrubs up to 1m and groundcovers) around the tree. By replacing lawn grass with these, you get increased biodiversity (plants, birds, butterflies, and more), reduced watering, and reduced maintenance (pruning a few times a year instead of regular mowing; they hide fallen leaves so you don't have to keep raking). If planted densely enough, they can even suppress weeds.
Just remember to leave enough space for bins (including skip bins), verge collection (if your council still does this), a path for pedestrians (check with your council for the required width), and space for the tree to grow.
Here's a place to start: https://madeleinehicks.com.au/design-guidelines-street-verge…
Just leave it. It's councils land and councils problem.
Don't you have enough things to worry about?Other than stopping inconsiderate offenders from ruining my front lawn? No… this is the only thing that's getting on my nerve at the moment.
It’s not your front lawn, that’s the point.
Some people are house proud and want their nature strip to look good. Some are just housos.
As gimme commented, this is why I care. I want the nature strip in front of our house look good. So if somebody ruins the nature strip in front of my house, I care about it. If those offenders does not want a dispute or avoid ticket, its easy. They, and their guest, can park in their garage, driveway, street, or even on the nature strip in front of their house.
I'm in the same situation as you. My neighbour and their guests would park on their driveway (which is illegal) and also the nature strips, both blocking my access to my property. I have talked to them several times over the years. They always say that they will talk to the guests, but it keeps happening. Some people are just very selfish and inconsiderate.
Yeah… I'm done talking too. There is always an excuse for their behaviour. But, in truth, they are just lazy to park their car far away. So they decide to park on your nature strip. I bet only physical barrier like bollards, stone, and trees can stop them from doing so.
its not yours
Is There Anything You Can Do to Stop People from Parking & Driving over The Natures Strip
Yes, call your council and they will send a parking officer who will probably issue them with a ticket.
We had tradies last year doing that, working on a neigbours house. I called the council and within an hour, all had tickets. They didn't do it again…
I didn't realise the council send out an officer in such a short time. I will try this next time I see a car parked on the nature strip. This will be entertaining :D
I didn't realise the council send out an officer in such a short time.
They do when there is revenue involved…
my dad used to drive over the neighbours front nature strip. then the neighbours put up rods and tied ropes/strings everywhere to prevent anyone from driving on it lol
now no-one ever drives on it anymore because they crack it.
Yes
Id just go with a couple of large mildy decorative rocks or a couple of logs….
I have a similar problem, although I'm in a rental so not sure if it's worth doing anything about it particularly as it's a big family of tradies next door.
The neighbour has gravelled the nature strip between my house and theirs, although it's wholly in front of my house and right up to the edge of my drive. They use it to park on instead of their drive as it's easy drive on/off, but they usually drive off over part of the strip on the other side of my drive which turns it into a muddy hole when it rains.
It's also difficult reversing into or out of the drive as it blocks visibility and makes it very tight.On top of that, their dog barks 24/7 and they have to test the engines on their numerous motorbikes, jetski and whatever else they have regularly during the week.
Some people are just inconsiderate and particularly if they are a large male dominated family of tradies, really don't give a crap nor expect anyone to say anything.
You can just tell council that the grass has been replaced by gravel and they will either issue an order to rectify it, or rectify it themselves.
I know, but these types of people can become real a-holes if they find out it's you who reported them, so I'm reluctant… At least until after I've moved out 😉
Grow the grass a bit longer and install steel tyre spikes?
Some basic decorative garden edging would hopefully be enough.
Trees are a great idea, but that might still leave enough space for drivers to park or drive over the grass closest to the road.
Reminds me of this : https://youtu.be/s3XJByXIzOg?t=136
You can just sprinkle some sand over the grass to level it back out.
Planting a garden (if you're legally allowed to do so) would be a great idea there to deter people from parking because;
- It's not your land
- Aside from telling people nicely, not to park there, you have no authority over them.
I really like the idea of the garden.
Oh man seeing those photos infuriate me.
just buy some star pickets from bunnings, put them around the road edge every 3 meters. Put the yellow cap on top. Anyone asks you're just looking after the grass and am yet to buy the string.
1.85m star picket, around $10-11 at bunnings
yellow cap, 60c each
You'll need like 5 of them? problem solved
Just put metallic rods on both ends and tie a strip, rope or tape from one end to the other. That's it… Not one gets out of the car to remove this stuff.
Fertilizer and sprinklers. Gotta make sure you look after the councils grass, right?
can't you ring up the council who will send a traffic warden out to issue a ticket?
White plastic buckets filled with concrete. Put a line of them either side of your driveway. If you feel like getting creative, you could make some polystyrene "boulders" out of Shelley's gap filler.
Can't you just take a photo of the car on the nature strip and send it to the council? It's illegal to park there. The regulars will stop in no time.
Most councils have to send a ranger to take a photo or video of the vehicle before they may issue a fine.
Council need to catch them in the act. If it is only random occasions the council isn’t going to stake out the joint for weeks. They are going to drive by a few times if they are in the area.
Install bollards like the other houses have done.
When I get a new place I might also seek out my own bollard guy.I actually worked in the department that would oversee this area for BCC for a bit (not long enough to be an expert).
Crossing over the kerb & channel is a complaint that comes up a lot, but can never really be rectified due to lack of evidence (that a lot of people reasonably wouldn't expect to need to provide). Any charges against third parties need to be pretty airtight, as theoretically the party could take this to court.
If your neighbours are parking on the verge and you want it to stop, it's really a matter of what kind of relationship you want with your neighbours. In my opinion, if they haven't stopped when you've repeatedly asked, then the only last resort is trying to get them fined through the rapid response group showing up. But obviously, they'll know the complainant and while they may stop, it'll sour (any) relationship you've had with the neighbours.
This is actually really annoying for me because I like to keep my nature strip grass looking neat and healthy.
It's frustrating when I spend hours watering, fertalising, mowing and edging it and then some twat parks on the grass itself when the road is wide enough to park on the street completely with no issues.
I ended up getting metal ground spikes and high visibility ribbon from Bunnings and put it around the grass, so it looks like I'm working on it and don't want people to park there. I take them out on days the other cars won't park there or if I have people over or whatever..
Eventually the people who parked there move and I didn't have to worry about it anymore.
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omg