Another neighbourly disagreement - how to proceed?

[SamiHami]

Excellent update-glad it seems to be working for you. I still don't get why she doesn't just park in her driveway...

[sparksals]

Great update!

[FizzyChip]

@SamiHami - to be honest, I have no idea why she chose(es) not to park on her on driveway, there certainly seems to be room.  It's an odd, odd, odd (and did I say "odd"?) situation.  Don't care really where she parks, it was just annoying that she insisted on parking on our lawn all the time without so much as a simple discussion, as is neighbourly etiquette around these parts (Australia). 

I keep asking myself if perhaps, when I approached her, that maybe I came across as rude, even though as with any delicate situation, I did try to broach the subject in a way so not to offend, but am assuming unless she suddenly speaks to us again, we'll never know for sure 

[sparksals]

Since she immediately got defensive, she knew she was stepping on toes.  It sounds like she doesn't want her car to detract from her gorgeous garden and abused the public space aspect of the blvd.

[jeni]

This situation is something that would really annoy me too and I can relate!  I hope your gardening efforts have the desired result, with the added benefit of some nice plants.  If need be strategically placed sprinklers will also help.

I agree with other comments that as she was immediately defensive, she knew what she was doing was wrong (albeit not in a legal sense).  I agree she probably doesn't want to 'mess up' her own grassed area or ruin her underground retic, but she should be parking in her own driveway.

Until recently we had neighbours that used to leave their driveway empty, and park their vehicles on the opposite side of the street, either on the street on the vacant lot, or otherwise park in front of our house.  NEVER in front of their own house.  They would also hose the dirt off vehicles and trailers in front of our house (after returning from dirt biking).   Yet there was no obvious reason why they couldn't park in front of their own house. 

They had recently become very garden proud so my take on it was that they didn't want to ruin the view of their lovely yard with untidy looking  vehicles or mess up their 'own' street frontage.

I'm thinking along the same lines about your Mum's neighbour.

Let us know if there are any updates!

[Otterpop]

Awesome solution!  I was afraid she might "pretend" not to see the shrubbery and park over it.  It seems she's not that malicious.  Good update.

[sparksals]

Until recently we had neighbours that used to leave their driveway empty, and park their vehicles on the opposite side of the street, either on the street on the vacant lot, or otherwise park in front of our house.  NEVER in front of their own house.  They would also hose the dirt off vehicles and trailers in front of our house (after returning from dirt biking).   Yet there was no obvious reason why they couldn't park in front of their own house. 

This is why I dislike the "it's public land" excuse.  People use it not for parking when they have company, but for their own personal gain to the detriment of their neighbours.  It is a very selfish line of thinking. 

[FizzyChip]

completely agree Sparksals, I would argue that a reasonable person would be ok if someone legitimately used the public land "excuse" (building works in their own yard or similar), but to rest on this as a convenient back-up to satisfy some sense of personal vanity or neighbourly one-upmanship is just plain rude. 

On speaking to other "locals" (who are NOT my neighbours), I was peppered with several similar stories of "parking wars", so I must put it down somewhat to the frustrations of suburbia! 

@ Otterpop - Oh, yes, we too were a little worried about the "accidental" drive over by Kate, so have installed stakes (painted white) next to each of our shrubs.... for the sake of good plant growth, you understand. 

Thanks again lovely EHellions.

[etiquetteE]

She drives onto our drive way, then onto the lawn, parks her car and walks to her house 

Could you perhaps put some large boulders along your driveway and the entrance to the shared lawn?  It might be difficult for her to get onto the lawn if you put up something between the lawn and your driveway.

[Rusty]

Fizzychip, I don't know what State you are in but these areas are referred to as "nature strips" where I live.  They are usually maintained by the owner of the property and usually the by-laws prevent car parking on these. I know in my area you can receive a local authority fine, although they usually turn a blind eye if it is only the owner of the property.  Your neighbour has no right to use your driveway area to access the strip and you could inform her of this. Hopefully the trees have deterred her. We had a similar problem with a neighbour running a business next door and parking his vans half on half off our nature strip. I spoke to him and although he wasn't happy he did move them, it prevented us from parking outside our own house.