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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This might be the option to go if my request to council is rejected again.
The natures strip on our front yard has not foot path.
In this case, do you knoe if i can plant close to the edge of the street? or Do i need to leave a reasonable gap for the pedestrians?I would probably leave a half a metre gap at the road itself (to allow for people to get out of their car if parked or cross the road without being stuck on the roadway) then another 1.5m gap at your property as the footpath (this is the minimum recommended footpath width when building a footpath itself as it will allow two people to pass each other)
So if it’s 4m between your property and the road, do 0.5m gap, 2m planting, 1.5m footpath.
Be sure to use something physical to cordon out the planting area so people don’t drive/walk over it when it’s young.
Dont ask then !
Get a trailer and go to ANL to get a big fat boulder and place that neatly on the green strip. Of course decline it was you.
Repeat that about 4 times and you should be good.
Big rocks fix my problem no park on my strip now.
A nice low water native garden with some large rocks for small lizards to live under. Rocks big enough where cars would see them and not want to risk driving on them.
Plants would be run over….. unless it’s a tree
unless you put 2 bollard around it 'to temporarily protect the young plant from wind'
How far can you take it?
Can you make a vegetable garden?
How about a rock garden?
Or maybe a historic recreation of the beaches in Normandy, complete with Czech hedgehogs?
imma need to see the latter, sir
This is the best solution until a permanent solution is found.
Great app and certainly worth a try.
never got a response
I have a similar problem as the OP in my area and use Snap Send Solve. BCC have always responded within a couple of days and reported on the action/s taken.
a no parking sign and a few "accidentally placed" (mod: edited) should do the trick
I am at a point this feels like a viable option lol
on a serious note though, i'd suggest reporting these instances to the council (helped when I had the same issue), works as a good deterrent, especially for cars that regularly park on your nature strip.
Please don't, kids run up and down nature strips.
Dont be stupid and escalate this. Disgruntled resident(s) did this at Kurnell to stop cyclists coming into the area. Ended up just hurting feet of the locals and paws of pets. Police got involved later.
I really did not mean for this to be taken literally. Hence why I said "on a serious note"
Are you allowed to plant trees on the nature strip? My neighbour has a similar problem, he put a small tree on his nature strip with some timber support.
BCC has a free native tree program. https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/clean-and-green/green-home-a…
It seems like that i am allowed to plant, if i leave 1.2m gap from the edge as shown on the link toniyellow commented above.
This might be the option to go…And get the trees run over, or plant grown trees ( expensive ) ?
I was under the impression nature strips are council land?
If so, every time it happens, I'd lodge a complaint to the council. Eventually they'll put something in effect to stop their land from being damaged.I know. I dont know why i have to be stressed about Councils Land when they do not permit me from protecting it from the damages. I will keep complaining everytime it happens and see what happens.
Just put big rocks there - that's what I did when I lived near a school. Worked a treat.
I badly wanted to do this. But Cuncil Says its not permitted.
The use of non-organic materials such as loose gravel, crushed brick or other stone aggregate is not permitted. The use of any hard landscaping materials or irrigation systems is also not permitted.
The trick is just putting them there and not screaming out that you were the one that did it.
Dumped by construction workers?
where get these big rocks
Logs are organic materials
I just realised that timber bollards are organic, and council does not permit you to put it there lol.
logs can be important habitat for native wildlife
Cuncil Says its not permitted.
Well neither is parking on it…
Sounds like little rocks for a path. Put large obvious rocks.
Those counts from the cuncil really get me down too
Park your own car there. At least you're doing the damage, not those people and you know the council won't do anything about it.
In BCC areas, you can get a fine for parking on the nature strip. The council did a blitz in my area a while ago, which I thought was stupid, because the streets are so narrow, making my neighbours park their cars on the street instead makes no sense. You can legally block the street with 2 cars parked on each side of the street.
You can legally block the street with 2 cars parked on each side of the street.
No you can't - you have to leave at least three metres gap. It's in the road rules.
I feel your pain; every tradie, visiting any of the neighbours, parks on the nature strip in front of our place. They claim they can't park where they are working, as there is a garden or whatever in front and no space to park.
So, the root cause is those neighbours who have taken possession of the nature strip in front of their place. I suggest you join them and plant a tree or similar.After googling for a planting ideas, some of the dwarf variety hedges feels to be a good option. I will visit nursaries to see if those small variaties are available.
Convert your naturestrip turf to bindii
Bindii with ~100% iron content?
May be more effective is it’s 100% Irwin.
yo that actually looks alright!
idk why you asked the council. Never mind, they will be too lazy to enforce anything, especially with no proof you did it.
1 or 2 strategically-placed large rocks will fix it for sure.if the council can’t be bother to prevent people parking on the lawn i doubt they will be bothered removing some rocks that just suddenly appeared from the sky.
if they ever asked, just say you heard a really loud bang one night, went out and there were 2 smoking rocks there, must have been meteorites. So lucky the didn't land on the house !
At least then you have somewhere nice to sit while you watch them drive over your naturestrip
i laughed way too hard at this. MS Paint you legend.
Most home owners don't realise that the nature strip is public (Council land) although the home owner maintains it, and hence feels some ownership over it.
The Council is likely exercising this aspect of ownership without acknowledging, nor can it, the personal/emotional impact it's having on you.
So yes, some home owners do protect the nature strip by putting stakes or similar on there to prevent motorists from parking. However, this is a non-permitted occupation of the land. Council can't check every nature strip to see if it's occurring so just because you see that it is, doesn't mean that it's permitted.
There was a situation in Victoria where a home owner put metal pegs on the nature strip to prevent parking on it. A passing cyclist fell at that location and impaled themself on the metal peg. Cyclist sued Council -> Council sued home owner for illegally placing peg on public land.
If it's Council land that they're parking on then just complain each time to Council.
As first time home owner, I had no idea all those bollards were installed without permission from the council. No wonder the council was not giving out permits. This makes more sense now… I always known the natures strip was councils so permit was required for anything. I am not looking for a lawsuit if it ever happens, so small decorative plants seems like more viable option for me. Thank you.
Op, remember that any fixed or movable ornaments you install on the nature strips is you responsibly. You may be liable for any injuries or damage it causes to public. You would also not be covered by insurance.
Hmm… Well, as others pointed out, natures strip is Council Land… I will keep complaining about the damages on the lawn whenever it happens and see if they decide to do anything. If nothing happens within a year or so… i will then consider installing sometiong on the natures strip. Thanks for pointing it out.
@Summoner: Don't complain about damage to grass, simply request that BCC enforce the/ir parking laws. I have always found BCC happy to oblige. Submit the request via Snap Send Solve with photos of the offending vehicles on the nature strip.
@OldnBroke: Thanks for the tip. I've just downloaded the app and created an account. I will give it a go. Do council fine the offender based on the photo taken? Or would it be better to report it over the phone to council?
@Summoner: Don't talk to them, I never found that useful. Just take photos, give them the location, and they will send someone out within a day or two. The car/s must be parked illegally when they arrive, they will not book people based on your photo/s. Yeah you have to take a punt the car/s will be there when they arrive, but you can always submit another complaint if they are not. Just state "cars are parked illegally on the nature strip, please enforce local parking laws", and give them an indication of the time of day car/s are illegally parking. A concise request in writing can be a powerful thing.
they still have to proof you put it there, metal pegs are far more dangerous than rocks.
@viper8548: OP doesn't sound like the sort of person that would look the other way if a pedestrian injury themselves because of something they put in place.
Put up some hardwood garden stakes (very cheap at Bunnings) every metre or two, with some string joining them. Write some signs on sheets of paper saying something about new grass and tape them to the string. Make it look amateurish. You should be able to get away with that for at least a few months.
This. Try caution tape as well.
Just put up wooden bollards. If others have them, council obviously doesn't enforce it.
Agree. Highly unlikely to have to remove them.
The nature strip is Crown land. Let the local council deal with it.
It is generally Council land. In Brisbane parking on the nature strip is an offence under the BCC Bylaws, hence one complains to BCC about it rather than the Police, who look after State matters.
"Decorative" rocks, put in a planter box or plant a native garden, easier to maintain and lower on water.
Vehicles usually aren't allowed to park on nature strips due to it causing damage to the grass as shown or services located underneath. Highly recommend you get council to enforce their own rules
Just install a few of the timber bollards. Make them look like the others. Highly unlikely to have to remove them although it is possible.
If you make it look like it’s meant to be there unlikely to get complaints as no one should be driving on it.
Locally there are a few houses that have placed a large rock, 200-300mm diameter every 3-4 metres to prevent vehicles driving on their grass. Suspect no complaints as they’ve been there a fair while.
Erect a sign; Warning, Covid Hotspot.
Fair point. But, there is no foot path on the nature strip in front of our home, which makes it part of our front lawn (visually of course, since its council land). When travelling vehicle and neighbour damages it, it ruins view of our front lawn which I love about our property. Also, those behaviour is illegal. This is why I care about those issue. But I somewhat agree I need to be cooler a bit about those issues
Wait how about if you put your bins out and just leave them there all the time?
Surprisingly, that's an offence too
Council may investigate bins continually left on the footpath or kerb and issue fines to offenders.
hey what's your address? you seem like a really nice person - do you mind if I park my spare car on your front nature strip? on days you water the lawn mind also giving it a wash?
I was thinking some decorative rocks, but if they aren’t allowed, how about build a couple of raised garden beds using, for example, (organic) railway sleepers. Ie build a couple of squares with sleepers on their side, fill with dirt and perhaps a tree or bush in the middle. I get a similar problem, usually from a neighbour or their visitor, but thankfully not often. Good luck
If you put any solid obstructions or slip/trip hazards on the nature strip, whether it’s rocks or solid wood or rope etc, what’s to stop some enterprising individual from driving into it or tripping over it on purpose and suing you and the council?
You’re leaving yourself open to liability. If you just leave it as is, it’s the councils responsibility and problem. It’s not your land. You have no right to it. Yes, it’s not great that there’s damage to the grass, but that’s life.
what about tripping from the hole left by the tyre marks from the person parking on the lawn lol
That would be Council's problem. Same as if a footpath was cracked, or soil had subsided etc.
Planting trees and stuff is the go. A couple of frangipannis at either end should do the trick, they’re pretty and easy to pull up if ever needed.
frangis smell nice too
Don't mention to Council…. Buy two large secondhand truck tyres. Paint white. Pace out front. Shovel in soil. Plant a tree within each.
Just got a response from the council. As everyone predicted, ballard cannot be installed. The officer recommended speaking with the people parking on the natures strip to stop them :D Its funny the only option to stop illegal parkers is to illegally install a structure and council does not take any responsibility either way. Anyway, I will keep complaining whenever it happens and see how I go.
Just call them back and say “thanks for confirming you won’t fine people for parking on my nature strip, I will start parking there myself.”
99% chance they will start patrolling the area to fine you…but now OP is on the watchlist lol
Australian Standard - Roadside objects - only frangible things can be adjacent to the roadway. So plastic or rubber bollards, plants etc.
Obviously nobody cares about the Standards so you can see a million front yards that would not comply with the standards. Its only an issue when somebody crashes into it and they sue you.
1, You need to plant some shrubs next to the kerb. You don’t even need a line of them, just one every ~2m. Try to find a nursery with more mature shrubs. / gumtree
2, or buy 150mm PVC pipes + caps, spray them with a nice colour. (do not fill it with concrete) Install them behind the kerb. They would easily break if somebody crashes into them so it is legal.
Plastic and rubber bollards are a maintenance issue as once an idiot driver realises it’s not painted steel, they like to target them for fun. Thus council avoid these.
I had this problem in a Villa complex. It was nearly always tradies who wanted to save walking 2 or 3 extra steps. I got a sign made up (EBay) and staked it where they would have to knock it down to drive onto my nature strip.
Received another response from the council regarding the compacted soil on the nature strip. They will be sending out someone to repair it and put some top soil over. It would be great to see if they take preventative measure, but anyway, one problem solved for me for now. Shame its paid with the tax paid by the community.
I'd go with planting too - with stand up (soft) sticks just to give them protection while growing.
I wouldn't think many people would drive over marked, obvious seedlings.In the alternative, take to scattering bird seed on verge (on the parked cars if they happen to be in your bird feeding spaces).
(I'm a bad bad person :D But couple days of coming a car covered in bird bits may have them considering other parking)scattering bird seed
You do realise that birdseed is actually the seeds of plants - you never know what will grow from them.
plant a tree smack bang in the middle of the strip
You should’ve asked the question here first before asking/notifying the Council. Perhaps naivety on your part but the general consensus when dealing with the Council is you’re dealing with a bunch of jobsworths.
Like others already suggested just put 1 or 2 boulders on the berm and be done with it. In the unlikelihood the Council contacts you to remove the boulders they don’t just go and threaten with court action in the first instance - usually takes several instances, letters and weeks before they take it further.
I liken contacting the Council to “that one guy” that calls up a retailer to confirm the price for an obvious price error and ruins the fun for everyone - except in this instance you ruined it for yourself as the Council now has your request for bollards on-file. It works against you if they ask you to move boulders because they already told you you can’t have bollards.
Yeah, I can see it now :(
I saw these bollards everywhere so I never though this was illegal structure. I thought it was just matter of asking for a permit. But, yeah… I put myself into this…
Just put little trees next to them. Then they are tree steaks. Is there a regulation limiting the maximum size of your tree stakes?
Just put the bollards in - I doubt council will do anything otherwise all the other “illegal” bollards would be removed. In other words, the council may not be able to formally approve them, but obviously doesn’t police their removal
All it takes is for someone to drive into or trip over it and you’re sitting on a mountain of liability. It’s really not worth it.
Calthrops. Everywhere.
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Looks like you are allowed to plant a garden on the nature strip
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/clean-and-green/natural-envi…
Put some plants instead of bollards.