Police called to deal with neighbours' parking spat in Overton

5:20pm Saturday 16th March 2013 in News By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter

POLICE were called to a dispute between neighbours over a parking space.

The row concerns a strip of land in Red Lion Lane, Overton, which Angela and Graham Gould say sits naturally within their property, but the ownership of which is disputed.

When a neighbour parked his car there, the couple decided to make a point by putting a chain around the vehicle with a padlock.

Mrs Gould said the car-parking by Red Lion Lane residents, including Sarah Mills, was very upsetting, which was why she and her husband used the chain.

She said of Mrs Mills: “She has ample parking space for herself and any visitors. We, therefore, saw her action as highly provocative, inflammatory and unnecessary.”

The Goulds used the chain when another neighbour’s car replaced Mrs Mills’ car in the space. When the Goulds offered to take down the chain, the neighbour refused to move his vehicle.

Mrs Gould then called Overton beat officer PC Richard Baldwin to deal with the dispute, and said he advised her to remove the chain.

Mrs Mills, a former Overton parish councillor, earlier this year asked the parish council to take action against the Goulds, who are both 62, because she claimed that before they moved in last October, the space was used by the resident of Red Lion Lane whose car they had chained in. The resident has declined to comment.

The Goulds’ property has been the focus of concern as its boundary infringes the Edward Kersley playing field perimeter.

But Mrs Mills was told the parking wrangle was not a parish council matter, and she was advised to seek an arbitrator.

Mrs Mills told The Gazette: “The key point here is that the strip of land does not belong to Mr and Mrs Gould. “The police told them not to put a chain across because it does not belong to them and they are not entitled to stop anyone using it.”

The police confirmed PC Baldwin had been to the dispute and had “advised all parties concerned”.

Comments(17)

Best_Name_Ever says...
9:43am Sun 17 Mar 13

Overton sounds a really vindictive sort of place.

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Upontheroof says...
8:18am Mon 18 Mar 13

The Goulds need to relax, breath in deeply and stop throwing there weight around. The space was there before them so they have no right to dictate who can and can't use it.

There life will now be consumed over a parking space and the neighbours won't be sending christmas cards. Is it really worth it? Move on or out and let it go!

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Folkestone Saint says...
9:39am Mon 18 Mar 13

Are they related to the woman who lives near that school and thinks she owns the road

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JJ38JJ says...
12:55pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Folkestone Saint wrote:
Are they related to the woman who lives near that school and thinks she owns the road
Probably not. But the Gazette could sell tickets to watch if they lived near each other! Better than telly.

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RagingPagan says...
10:32am Thu 21 Mar 13

Yes - the Goulds need to start acting like neighbours and try cooperating with the village, instead of looking for a fight at every opportunity. Overton is a great place to live unless you are trying to bully people...

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zigzagwanderer says...
5:36pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Nothing but trouble since they moved in. Why do people try so hard to be so difficult?!?!?!?!

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Nomorewarboy says...
10:28pm Fri 22 Mar 13

I feel a bit sorry for the Goulds. They seem to have moved into a mine field - not something that an older couple would deliberately do. Overton is a great place to live, but the attitudes displayed in these comments suggest that incomers such as the Goulds are not welcome, particularly if they are prepared to stand up for themselves! Good for you Mr and Mrs Gould - forget the Christmas card lists and hostile neighbours - we should all be entitled to stand up for ourselves even if this means not 'co-operating with the village'.

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BlowingintheWind says...
9:36am Sat 23 Mar 13

Good on the Gould's standing up for the little man against the vast machine that is the Council. I have only visited Overton once and thought it a great place to live and bring up kids but having read the comments from the 'locals' I'm not so sure. Why would anyone want to live there. They sound like a small minded, mean spirited, miserable bunch of misfits.

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Nomorewarboy says...
2:30pm Sat 23 Mar 13

No 'BlowingintheWind', please don't judge us all on the small minded attitudes of a few. Overton is a brilliant village with loads of public spirited people in it. You'll always get a few unhappy people who need to vent themselves on the rest of the world. But I think it's mean that they should do so towards this couple who have only recently moved in and who seem to have more than enough problems to contend with already. Come on people of Overton, let's show ourselves to be the honest and decent folk that we are.

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2TicketsforRose says...
6:20pm Sat 23 Mar 13

Well said 'Nomorewarboy''. Of course the Goulds will not have deliberately set out to upset their new neighbours and I am sure would be very upset and unsettled by the insensitive comments made above. They appear to have walked in to a hostile situation not of their making and I am not surprised that they felt the need to fight back in order to preserve the retirement home which I am sure they hoped to enjoy together.

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Al_Bond says...
9:25pm Sat 23 Mar 13

Upontheroof wrote:
The Goulds need to relax, breath in deeply and stop throwing there weight around. The space was there before them so they have no right to dictate who can and can't use it.

There life will now be consumed over a parking space and the neighbours won't be sending christmas cards. Is it really worth it? Move on or out and let it go!
Upontheroof should climb down from your roof and sense reality. Pathetic.

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Al_Bond says...
9:27pm Sat 23 Mar 13

zigzagwanderer wrote:
Nothing but trouble since they moved in. Why do people try so hard to be so difficult?!?!?!?!
Keep wandering Zig Zag. You'll get it one day.

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Al_Bond says...
9:30pm Sat 23 Mar 13

RagingPagan wrote:
Yes - the Goulds need to start acting like neighbours and try cooperating with the village, instead of looking for a fight at every opportunity. Overton is a great place to live unless you are trying to bully people...
If I lived in Overton I think I would quite enjoy bullying RagingPagen.

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Al_Bond says...
10:07pm Sat 23 Mar 13

Follow me @Al_Bond225. All forms of abuse appreciated ;-)

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Nomorewarboy says...
10:14pm Sat 23 Mar 13

You've been busy Al_Bond. Be careful, don't mess with the RLL Mafia or even the Folkestone gang - the gang leader has tentacles everywhere.

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BlowingintheWind says...
10:28pm Sat 23 Mar 13

Hey boys and girls. This is getting better. I hear from a friend in O that there's a campaign being orchestrated against Mr & Mrs G by a certain individual. She used to run the parish council apparently and now she thinks she runs the village ! She knows who she is and my money's on the Gould's getting the better of this particular witch. Remember the immortal words of Mr Z "It takes a lot to laugh it takes a train to cry".

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robertspet8 says...
3:28pm Tue 26 Mar 13

I am an outsider and only know Overton as a casual visitor, so I have no axe to grind.
First, surely this dispute can be easily resolved by reference to the title deeds and land registry to establish who owns the strip of land.
Second, my guess is the Goulds do not have deeds which show ownership because they say it sits naturally within their property, and they do not claim that their deeds show clear ownership. If they had documented proof then this dispute could have been settled immediately.
Third, if there is no registered owner then I would assume whoever has been enjoying the use of the land will have, by now, established a right to continue to enjoy parking their cars there.
Fourth, letting disputes escalate to this extent tends to make everyone involved appear mean-spirited and unneighbourly. I hope this is not so.
Fifth, Bob's world weary song title is absolutely appropriate.

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