A man created his own parking blockade to stop parents dropping off their kids at a nearby school from parking outside his home.
Derek Woodacre has been battling parents on the school run at Mosley Common’s St John’s Primary School for years, saying he believes they shouldn’t be parking on his street. The 65-year-old has even been in conflict with his own neighbours over this issue, with one saying the blockade could have prevented emergency vehicles and bin men getting through.
Derek has become notorious on Commonside Road as a result of this fight, which has been going on for almost three years. This has led to fights, vandalism, complaints and huge financial cost, according to Derek, MEN reports.
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Derek said: "I moved here five years ago and this is an unadopted road so the council is not responsible for it. When I moved in I thought what the hell is this.
“The first week I saw a lot of people parking from the school. I felt a lot of abuse from parents when I told them they couldn't park there. We have to pay to repair the road and it costs thousands. I met every resident on the road and they told me about all the problems.
“They [Wigan Council] tried to force me to remove the stuff from the highway two months ago. Then it was July 19 when they came to remove it."
The technical writer is an avid collector and managed to come across planters which he put on the road alongside the speed restrictions to give them weight. But many of his neighbours on the street do not believe the parking is too bad and see Derek as the problem, not the parents at the school.
Ruby Howard, who has lived on Commonside Road all her life, believes Derek’s passion has led him to go too far. She explained that his shenanigans in the early hours have given people sleepless nights.
She said: "Originally our road is unadopted and we own up to halfway on the road to the middle of the street and we have the school at the end. For 16 years we have always had a back and forth [with the school].
“We all paid for it to be resurfaced, the parents driving up and down and he took it upon himself to put barriers in. That has led to abuse arguments with parents.
“He buys and sells for a living and he started using the space to leave his stuff. It looked awful. I contacted the council and have been trying to get it removed for two and a half years.
"It got to the point where emergency vehicles and bin men couldn’t get through. Once he was told to remove the plate he started to dig the pothole even more. It has been stressful, people on the street have sleepless nights.
“At first he was alright and wanted to help with the road, I think he got a bit too passionate. He sacked everyone off and wanted to do his own thing.”
This opposition from authorities and his neighbours will not deter Derek though. He has big plans for the future and is even looking to memorialise one of his favourite locations in the world, Lake Como in Italy.
Derek said: “I have more plans in the future. The pothole now, I am going to make it into Lake COMOnside.
"I have upset enough people. But I just don’t care now. I don’t know where this leaves me with the neighbours now. This just makes me more determined to carry on.”
Paul Barton, director for environment at Wigan Council, said: “Following this issue being reported, we have worked with the resident to resolve the situation. The structures were removed, with the support of the resident, on July 19.
“We are grateful to our residents for reporting issues to us and we encourage this. Residents can report issues by visiting: wigan.gov.uk/ReportIt.”
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “I can confirm that at around 8.30am on July 19, officers received a report of breach of the peace on Commonside Road, Worsely. A man had blocked the road and obstructed drivers. Officers and the council attended the scene and removed all obstacles.”
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