Lambeth Council, which is in Greater London, stresses it is illegal to drive a vehicle over the pavement – but residents in the Streatham Vale area must do so to reach their driveways
Homeowners are furious as they say they are being forced to pay £7,000 each just to park their cars on their own driveways.
Motorists “illegally park” at around 200 properties across Streatham Vale in Lambeth, south London, because their driveways do not have a dropped kerb. The residents therefore must drive across council-owned pavements to park on their own land, which the authority says breaks the law and causes damage to its pavements.
Now, Lambeth Council has told these residents they will have to apply for planning permission to drop the kerb and then pay for the work to be carried out. It is estimated the process will cost residents around £7,000 each. Motorists will have to fork out £4,000 for each application plus close to £2,000 for constructing a dropped kerb.
Kevin Joyce, a 64-year-old lecturer affected by this, said: “I’ve lived in this house for more than 30 years and when I bought it, the driveway never had a dropped kerb. It’s never been a problem, the council have never said anything so why is it an issue now? To be honest, I never thought about making a dropped kerb, but I don’t want to be cut off from my driveway so might have to pay to get one put in.”
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Mohamoud Ali, 25, said: “My car is only worth around £5,000 which is less than what it would cost me to put in a dropped kerb. I might now sell it and get the bus because my parking space will be worth more than my car. That just doesn’t make sense.”
The residents spoke to Mail Online, which reports parking bays will be placed outside driveways as an alternative move. The homeowners say this will restrict access to their properties.
And Fozia Aga, 55, claimed she had applied for a dropped kerb three years ago – only for the authority to reject this. She built a driveway anyway but now believes the council wants to “make money out of desperate motorists”.
Lambeth Council, committed to being net zero by 2030, says the move will help to tackle the “climate emergency” because “free unrestricted parking…has an impact on our climate.” It launched a public consultation about introducing residents’ parking permits for Streatham Vale amid concerns that commuters were driving to the area to park for free before taking trains into central London.
A spokesman for the council told Mail Online: “It is illegal to drive a vehicle over the pavement without having an authorised vehicle crossover. This requires a resident to make an application, gain approval and pay for the works to adapt the highway to enable safe access.”
The spokesman added that driving over pavements not adapted for vehicles causes damage that the council has to repair, as well as creating a risk that cars overhang onto pavements creating an obstruction. The Mirror has approached the authority for any further comment.
