Dropped Kerb , 5m Requirement

mrluke

Hi ,

Our local council has a requirement that in order to have a dropped kerb you need at least 5m from your house to the pavement .

While i can understand this , it doesnt perticually help us . We basically have a completely paved front , We have a recessed garage which allows a car to park up outside our garage and up the drive as it has the require 5m from the foot path . We also park a car accross the front of the house on the drive ( which i drive up on the dropped kerb) , but this can sometimes be difficult without another dropped kerb or enlarging our existing dropped kerb because of the places where other people park on the road .

Does any one know if theirs any way around this requirement set by some councils ?

Thanks
MrLuke

DTDfanBoy

If you're looking to extend the width of your current dropped kerb you may find that the council won't allow it purely because of the loss of onstreet parking let alone the 5m they specify.

force_ten

the 5mt rule will be to do with vehicles overhanging and obstructing the pavement, a new ford mondeo is 4.8mt bumper to bumper so they are trying to make sure that the off road parking area is large enough to accommodate a vehicle without causing an obstruction

eddddy

Hi mrluke

Have you discussed it with your local planning department? Different councils have different rules.

If I'm understanding your post correctly, you want to park one car in your garage (or perhaps on the drive in front of your garage) and 'parallel park' another car on the hardstanding across the front of your house. Is that right?

Some councils don't allow that type of 'parallel parking' at all. Others specify space requirements. (e.g. the space at the front of your house must be 3m deep by 8m wide to allow for maneuvering.)


In your position, I would draw a plan of your front garden showing dimensions; showing where the cars will be parked; and showing the line the cars would follow when driving in and out. Then make an informal enquiry with the planning department. (i.e. ask them what they think.)


But be aware that there is a very, very slight risk... if you bring it to their attention that you are 'parallel parking' across your house and they think it is very dangerous for pedestrians/drivers, they may take drastic action like positioning a bollard to stop you doing it.

bouicca21

My previous local council have a similar requirement. They send out a highways inspector to be sure there is enough room. I think the 'front of house to pavement' is indicative and that a recessed garage with the required 5 metres would be ok, but it's all up to the inspector. I wouldn't mention the parallel parking ...

eddddy

bouicca21 wrote: »

My previous local council have a similar requirement. They send out a highways inspector to be sure there is enough room. I think the 'front of house to pavement' is indicative and that a recessed garage with the required 5 metres would be ok, but it's all up to the inspector. I wouldn't mention the parallel parking ...

I think the OP is saying he already has a dropped kerb which is sufficiently wide for his garage/first car.

But he wants to make it wider, or introduce a second dropped kerb to allow a second car to be 'parallel parked'...

mrluke wrote: »

... but this can sometimes be difficult without another dropped kerb or enlarging our existing dropped kerb
...

If the OP doesn't mention the parallel parking, it may be hard to explain why he needs a larger/second dropped kerb

mrluke

Sorry im finding it hard to explain this

Our house has a completely paved front garden .

The depth of our paved area is 4m

We have a integral garage which is slightly recessed into the house giving it 5m , which allows a car to park up the driveway normally .

We want to Park a car across our house , horizontally across the width . Not on the driveway but the front of the house.

Its extremely difficult to do this if cars are parked opposite ( well getting off the drive is ) as the car parked across the width of the house needs to reverse down the existing dropped kerb.

The councils requirement is 5m for a dropped kerb , as explained above the car will be too long and the rear end will go over the pavement if i parked the car vertical like the other car up the drive . But as we will be parking the car horizontally with the width of the house it will not overhang .

WestonDave

Our council (Bath NE Somerset) has a front to back requirement or a width requirement - it seems you need to try to get them to work with the latter as that would cover what you want to do, and pass their concern of a car hanging out over the pavement.

bouicca21

I see - perhaps the car to be parked parallel needs the driver to learn to reverse into the space, so he/she can drive out forwards ... Which is surely safer, even in cases where the space isn't tight, and if I remember correctly is what is recommended in the Highway Code.

eddddy

mrluke wrote: »

Sorry im finding it hard to explain this

Yes - I think I understand.

I just used a different word - I said 'parallel parked' (in post #4) you say 'horizontally parked'. But I think we both mean the same thing.


You've now mentioned 4m depth. In post #4, I mention that some councils will accept 3m depth (by 8m wide) for a horizontal parking space. But other councils wont.

Looking back at post #4 - have I misunderstood anything?

DTDfanBoy

mrluke wrote: »

Sorry im finding it hard to explain this

Our house has a completely paved front garden .

The depth of our paved area is 4m

Which council is your mrluke, policy varies quite widely around the country.

You also need to consider that if on road parking is hard to come by in your area the council may not let you widen the existing dropped kerb or add another even if you had the 5m they require.