Off-street Parking
There are 27 million cars in Great Britain and not all of them have a parking space, which is why those driven mad by going round and round in search of a tiny gap on the tarmac have resorted to concreting over the front garden. A third of all front gardens are now mini car parks, which is not an attractive site. Nor is it an environmentally friendly one; the car may have a safe new home but the wildlife is evicted and the rainwater run-off is increased by 50 per cent.
Rock House came with a hardstanding in the garden already in place. Oliver, who had been the tenant for more than four decades before being rehoused into a warm, comfortable terrace on the other side of the hill, was keen on his cars. One of the pluses (perhaps the only plus) of having to dig up the road to install proper plumbing had been the smashing of some of the hard-core drive.
Ideally it shouldn’t be there. A car doesn’t need a sea view, and nor do we really want to be faced with its rear bumper first thing in the morning. But now it’s here, it’s hard to give it up. Off-street parking is very popular. It ‘adds value’, estate agents say. Insurance companies love it. ‘Where will the car be overnight?’ they always ask. Does anyone ever answer: ‘In bed with me, of course.’
So, having accepted that the car spot will continue to take up a large chunk of the garden, I am looking at ways of making it more organically attractive. The current on-trend product is ‘Kedel’, a reconstituted plastic matting that forms a firm sieve-like base that allows grass to grow through the plugs, rather like a hair weave for the backyard. Or ‘permeable’ paving, chic brick-like porous pavers laid with wider gaps than normal to allow for drainage.
However, even as it currently stands (as it were), our off-street space is much coveted by the neighbours. With the exception of the statuesque, leather-clad professor who has a nice warm haven for his vast motorbike collection, the neighbours are forced to fight for the six residents’ spaces, which leads to tensions, social tight spots and refusals to budge an inch.
Next week: Oval room blue
Rock House came with a hardstanding in the garden already in place. Oliver, who had been the tenant for more than four decades before being rehoused into a warm, comfortable terrace on the other side of the hill, was keen on his cars. One of the pluses (perhaps the only plus) of having to dig up the road to install proper plumbing had been the smashing of some of the hard-core drive.
Ideally it shouldn’t be there. A car doesn’t need a sea view, and nor do we really want to be faced with its rear bumper first thing in the morning. But now it’s here, it’s hard to give it up. Off-street parking is very popular. It ‘adds value’, estate agents say. Insurance companies love it. ‘Where will the car be overnight?’ they always ask. Does anyone ever answer: ‘In bed with me, of course.’
So, having accepted that the car spot will continue to take up a large chunk of the garden, I am looking at ways of making it more organically attractive. The current on-trend product is ‘Kedel’, a reconstituted plastic matting that forms a firm sieve-like base that allows grass to grow through the plugs, rather like a hair weave for the backyard. Or ‘permeable’ paving, chic brick-like porous pavers laid with wider gaps than normal to allow for drainage.
However, even as it currently stands (as it were), our off-street space is much coveted by the neighbours. With the exception of the statuesque, leather-clad professor who has a nice warm haven for his vast motorbike collection, the neighbours are forced to fight for the six residents’ spaces, which leads to tensions, social tight spots and refusals to budge an inch.
Next week: Oval room blue