Dropped kerbs

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Is there a way to bring the costs down in putting in a dropped kerb? We have just been told that we can make our front garden into a driveway, if we put in a dropped kerb. I have heard rumours that only the council themselves can do the kerbs, in not 100% though. Any tips would be gratefully recieved, thanks x

illzlee

hi, the council either carry out the work or need to supervise/inspect when another contractor carries out the work. Any reputable groundworker should be able to do it, just make sure they follow the council's specification.
Also, under the National roads and streetworks act (NRSWA) you need to inform all companies who have an interest in the pavement of what you are doing. Basically, this means you need to tell BT/Water utility/electric supplier etc what you are doing. They then have to send you plans of their cables/plant in the pavement so you can try and avoid them!

TBH, it can be a lot less hassle to let the council do it! :beer:

darkcloudi

I am in the process of getting it done had a quote in the past which I had paid £35 for and they wanted £1500 to get the kerbs dropped. £300 of this cost was to remove a tree

Had to pay £35 again since I did not do the work within the 6 months timescale the council gave as I had other house work which I felt was more important.

Certain roads may require planning permission which will add to costs. To get it done go to your councils webpage. Here's a link to Birmingham councils webpage which will answer some questions in regards to dropped kerbs:
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/droppedkerbs.bcc

ic

Also bear in mind the new planning rules around driveways - if your new driveway drains to the road or into the drainage system, you need permission. Search this forums for more info.

poppyolivia

council wouldn't touch ours for some reason, got a local firm into do it then the council came and gave me a certificate type thing saying they have adopted it as their own and they will pay for the upkeep.

was done in this order..

phoned council
guy came out and said it was ok but they not doing it
got someone local to do it
council now own it

there was no need to phone anyone else in my experience. (I asked the council etc) But this might depend on where you live???

edited to say it was only the work of the dropped kerb I had to pay for, nothing else. Can't remember exactly how much but it was about £600-£700 if I remember right, but it is quite wide.

ormus

ive done about 3 dropped kerbs now and never asked the council anything. i just did it.
never had any problem from any council.
last one was for my MIL. i asked some local lads who were doing the roads nearby.
they did it in their lunch break and charged me 100 quid.

adaze

Its not just the kerbs that you are paying for, you are also paying for the strengthening of the footway to be able to take vehicles. Doing the kerbs yourself, will fix the problem of getting off the carriageway, but it is likely the footpath will then fail. Whilst probably not morally correct, you could do the kerbs yourself, or pay some £100 to do the kerbs, then when the footpath fails call the council to come and fix it - they won't (or don't usually) have any records for this so will be non the wiser.

From memory you are looking at around £50-60 per m2 for the black, groundwork etc. plus the kerbs, but probably closer to £70 nowadays because of the cost of bitumen.

Suzy_M

Try to find out if the road or pavement is due for resurfacing in the foreseeable future. If they are the council may do a discounted rate to put in the dropped kerb at the same time (in our area this was about a quarter of the normal cost).

Re: Not asking the council for permission.
Approval from the council includes a legal right of vehicle access from the highway across the pedestrian footpath on to your property. Without this you are breaking the law every time you drive on the footpath, so risk all sorts of points on your licence. You also have no legal protection if someone blocks you in and should the council decide in the future to install any street furniture, bus stops, etc. across your drive you've had it.

Suzy_M

Just spotted this earlier thread that might help.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1275283

point3

I seem to remember having to ask for permission for a vehicle to cross the pedestrian footpath too.

If the local authority is resurfacing your road (e.g. after the cable TV company have carved up the pavements ), then the council may offer to install a dropped kerb at reduced cost. The width of the dropped kerb may be limited by the presence of trees or drains in the road e.g. in our case the dropped section would only extend to a distance 1 metre from a tree.

Kiran

Suzy_M wrote: »

Try to find out if the road or pavement is due for resurfacing in the foreseeable future. If they are the council may do a discounted rate to put in the dropped kerb at the same time (in our area this was about a quarter of the normal cost).

Re: Not asking the council for permission.
Approval from the council includes a legal right of vehicle access from the highway across the pedestrian footpath on to your property. Without this you are breaking the law every time you drive on the footpath, so risk all sorts of points on your licence. You also have no legal protection if someone blocks you in and should the council decide in the future to install any street furniture, bus stops, etc. across your drive you've had it.

If there is going to be any resurfacing done then waiting til then will be your best bet. I worked on a job in Cardiff and we put drop kerbs in/made entrances wider to keep the residents happy during the work.

Although it obviously doesnt look the best, in the short term you could go for the old timber ramp up, unless you live on a main road.

The work can be carried out by anyone who is entered into the street works register, but it will have to be approved by the highways department as it will form part of an adopted highway