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View Full Version : Parked in... can't get the boat out !



mattyd
19-11-2009, 02:44 PM
Since buying the boat and moving it from the folks place (bigger yard) to our inner suburbian house, we've had issues with people parking out front and blocking the boat in. It's behind a gated fence which opens up onto the footpath.

Our application for a second driveway for our house just got knocked back by the Council (Bris. CC). Apparently it wouldn't leave enough room for people to park in the street as there's already numerous driveways in our section. Also we've only got a 10m frontage.

So it's back to putting a sign out the night before and hoping that it doesn't either a) get ignored and parked in anyway or b) some helpful jogger / walker / cyclist leaves my sign & rope in a neat little pile beside our letterbox >:(

Anyone taken matters into their own hands to get around this problem (eg. spray painting a big "NO PARKING" in yellow on the road)? Maybe I would then be charged with graffiti :-X

Dicko
19-11-2009, 02:47 PM
Maybe park one of your own cars out there the night before, then you can move it in the morning to let yourself out.

FNQCairns
19-11-2009, 03:04 PM
Yeah that's my thought also, almost worth buying a small ultra cheap clunker and keeping it registered and parked:)

cheers fnq

mattyd
19-11-2009, 03:07 PM
Cheers guys, that would solve half the problem.

We only have one vehicle and I still need to get the boat back into the yard upon our return.

The other thing I did last weekend was to move the boat out and drive it into our main driveway (effectively parking my car in). Again this solved the problem of actually getting the thing out at least.

beefa12001
19-11-2009, 03:36 PM
The night before you know you are going out, put your bins out on the road, marking a spot big enough to get your boat in and out...Matt

stevelcqld
19-11-2009, 03:46 PM
Paint an outline of a body on the road in front of the gates.. then gets some "danger" plastic tape and put on your bins to clear the spot... if you can grab some police tape, would work a treat !!!

Will also work better with some red paint running from the outline :-)

Steve

Sandman
19-11-2009, 03:56 PM
Do you know them ? If so ask them not to park there , i have similar issues but mine is parked out the front , my neighbour who generaly parks so close he gives me know room to move has now developed an understanding of when i am about to go fishing and clears a path.

mattyd
19-11-2009, 04:02 PM
Unfortunately it seems to be different people usually. We have a block of flats opposite us that seems to get a lot of visitors over the weekend and our little patch of gutter is the first place they see to park it seems!

But I like the idea of leaving the bins there while we are out in the tub, haven't thought of that one until beefa mentioned it.

hakuna
19-11-2009, 04:09 PM
Dig yourself out a driveway and fill it with pebble rock and roll it, all will believe it is a driveway, council cannot complain as you have not cut out the curb and for all purposes you hate grass and there is no law to say you have to have grass.so it is a pebble garden. Stick a pot plant on it.

People will see it is a driveway and not park there.

Standard practice on th Gold coast to get round their regulations.

They argued with me once 10 years ago and then agreed it is not driveway. Pebble and 1 potplant constitutes a garden.

Smart people those council people

cheers

cormorant
19-11-2009, 05:14 PM
We had this in the inner city.

Bought ourselves a old box trailer, nearly bald tyres that doesn't need rego inspections, Piece of ply bolted to the top ( to stop the rubbish) covering a couple of bags of concrete that had gone off then just had a chain to a eyebolt with ring ( no trip hazard) we drilled into the side of the gutter and set with Ramset glue.

Biggest problem was the same mongrel neighbours who would park us in then wanting to borrow the trailer - stuff em.

cheapest $200 bucks you will spend and easy just to unpadlock move by hand 10 feet hitch up and then move it back. Quality chain and decent padlock enclosed in a antitamper pipe cost us more. Old boat trailers are cheap up there!

It's registered and it is legal ( possibly except for the ring in the gutter bit) but if you have a telegraph pole same just don't create a trip hazard.

FNQCairns
19-11-2009, 05:20 PM
We had this in the inner city.

Bought ourselves a old box trailer, nearly bald tyres that doesn't need rego inspections, Piece of ply bolted to the top ( to stop the rubbish) covering a couple of bags of concrete that had gone off then just had a chain to a eyebolt with ring ( no trip hazard) we drilled into the side of the gutter and set with Ramset glue.

Biggest problem was the same mongrel neighbours who would park us in then wanting to borrow the trailer - stuff em.

cheapest $200 bucks you will spend and easy just to unpadlock move by hand 10 feet hitch up and then move it back. Quality chain and decent padlock enclosed in a antitamper pipe cost us more. Old boat trailers are cheap up there!

It's registered and it is legal ( possibly except for the ring in the gutter bit) but if you have a telegraph pole same just don't create a trip hazard.

A Cheap wheel clamp could work to keep it from being moved.

cheers fnq

The-easyrider
19-11-2009, 05:48 PM
My brother used to have that problem when he lived on the sunshine coast, he used to go and bang on the poeples door at 3am and tell them to move there sh#t box car, being about 6'4" and a big ass prison screw proberly helped with the fools not buring up at him

Marlin_Mike
19-11-2009, 05:53 PM
paint a yellow line down the edge of the road near the gutter, like they do, denotes a no parking zone. Dont need signs.


Mike

DAVE_S
19-11-2009, 07:41 PM
paint a yellow line down the edge of the road near the gutter, like they do, denotes a no parking zone. Dont need signs.


Mike

And then wait to fined by the council.
I have the same problem at my place with railway commuters cars that park on my driveway, and the local council wants nothing to do with it and said its a police matter witch they also do not care .>:(
So i now just put witches hats out and leave them there all day and adopt the same attitude .

ShaneC
19-11-2009, 10:41 PM
Put two witches hats there mate..... People will think they are there for a reason, no one moves witches hats!! Try it

Mike Delisser
19-11-2009, 10:50 PM
paint a yellow line down the edge of the road near the gutter, like they do, denotes a no parking zone. Dont need signs.


Mike

I know some one who did this then had to pay to have the road ground back to remove their yellow line.

PADDLES
20-11-2009, 07:50 AM
mate, i feel for ya, but i reckon make a move out of wooloowin if you don't like other people's cars being parked out the front. turdloads of cars parked everywhere goes hand in hand with inner city living. i reckon that "reserving" an area out the front, that you don't own, is f@#king arrogant. fair enough if it's across your driveway, and fair enough if you lived out in the burbs and someone was parking their b-double across the front of your place, but in an inner city suburb i think you're expecting a bit much. can you come up with a solution that can use your current driveway and let you jack-knife the thing sideways into your front yard?

Noelm
20-11-2009, 07:52 AM
even though I can understand your frustration, I agree with Paddles, it is a public road, and as such people can park anywhere they like (as long as it is legal).

TimiBoy
20-11-2009, 09:03 AM
We find when needing to reserve a spot for a truck that Brisbane City Council marked witches hats work without fail. They are easily... appropriated...

Cheers,

Tim

mattyd
20-11-2009, 10:52 AM
Yep - I realise that we're paying the price for living nice & close to the city (where we work) and you can't have it both ways. House is fairly close to the front fence so jack-knifing is not an option for us.

I think witches hats are a good idea (along with the bins). It still won't stop the morons who take offence when we put up the 'no parking' sign in the gutter an move it to a pile near the letterbox. I'd dare say if they don't like a piece of xmas tinsel with a no parking sign, they sure won't like witches hats being put there either.

It only comes out 1-2 times a month, but someone obviously feels putting anything out front of the gutter (~40cm) is getting in their way. I've found if I use tent pegs and move the sign back up to the lawn on the footpath, they haven't moved it yet.

Noelm
20-11-2009, 01:08 PM
lets just put a slightly different slant on this, suppose someone puts a couple of bins or witches hats right in front of the closest parking spot at your local busy boat ramp, do you reckon it would piss you off and you would move them, or just park a kilometre away, just because someone was "saving" it for themselves.

cormorant
20-11-2009, 01:10 PM
We find when needing to reserve a spot for a truck that Brisbane City Council marked witches hats work without fail. They are easily... appropriated...

Cheers,

Tim


Many years ago we had some taller thinner ones that we had poured concrete in to keep them in place and stop sticky fingers outside a factory that we put out daily with a trolley to let trucks access the loading dock.

Between seeing kids kick em and smart arse drivers try and ignore them we had a laugh or 10. Wouldn't suggest it as someone will go you for the damage these days but back then it was a Kak and we didn't know any better.

JRBK
20-11-2009, 01:14 PM
Mattyd,
I assume you have room in your front yard for your boat?
Whats wrong with parking your boat in the yard, then parking your car on the street in front of the boat to allow for a getaway. Have a removeable grate/metal plate so the boat can over the gutter
Saves on having to pay for a driveway (although i do have a relative who is a great concretor). Just using the footpath as a point of egress from your property.
Did the council Engineer give you any options? Would've thought the council would want cars off the street.
Mark

rooboy98
20-11-2009, 01:20 PM
This maybe a little extreme........but I was reading in the RACQ magazine earlier this year about how people living in some areas of inner Brisbane are able to "rent" a car space in their street.

Basically you pay the Council "x" amount of dollars and they come out and erect proper signs with a rego number of a vehicle printed on them. That is the only vehicle allowed to park there as the space is now effectively "Private Parking".

Don't know the full ins and outs of it, but the fact that they offer this service shows how bad the problem is. Must be a good little money maker for them.

Cheers,
Roo.

ShaneC
23-11-2009, 12:47 AM
Just had a thought. How are your neighbours mate?? Park your car there the night before you want to get it out, and then have a neighbour park their car there once you are gone, then move it when you get back. Nobody needs know any different, its just another car on the street and you can do what you need to do without anyone getting snooty.

Just an idea mate, I am glad I dont have your problem, but I wish i only had to pay your cab fare from the city at 3am on a Sunday lol.....

Apollo
23-11-2009, 06:06 AM
Simple - get a deckie. Move your boat to your drive and park your car in the 'spot' prior. When deckie turns up, get them to park in the 'spot', effectively holding it until your return.

timddo
24-11-2009, 01:28 PM
The best way is get a box trailer and park it there.