Can I widen my driveway opening?

minibbb

Good morning folks

We moved into our house last year (in a conservation area) and are lucky enough to have a single driveway.

The driveway is tarmac and is in v poor condition so I am looking to replace it fairly soon. The other half of the front garden is grass which tbh is somewhat wasted so ideally we would like to create a double drive.

I think we will need planning permission due to the size and it being a conservation area.

We would need to widen the entrance- it's currently not possible to get on to the other side of the grass if a car is on the current driveway.

Do you think it's likely the council will allow me to remove 1-1.5m of my front wall? In an ideal world I'd love to widen the dropped kerb but not sure they'll allow me with the tree there? (Obvs can't get rid of that sadly- would love a full width DC mind you)

If we can open up the front wall there would be sufficient room to get on/off the drive with the current dropped kerb. It's worth adding the current opening is v tight for anything other than a small car.

Any thoughts most appreciated!
https://ibb.co/nBhEx5

Davesnave

minibbb wrote: »

I think we will need planning permission due to the size and it being a conservation area.

We would need to widen the entrance- it's currently not possible to get on to the other side of the grass if a car is on the current driveway.

Do you think it's likely the council will allow me to remove 1-1.5m of my front wall? In an ideal world I'd love to widen the dropped kerb but not sure they'll allow me with the tree there? (Obvs can't get rid of that sadly- would love a full width DC mind you)

Any thoughts most appreciated!
https://ibb.co/nBhEx5

I think the council will take a view that if you remove a piece of your boundary wall to gain access for 2 cars, their grass is bound to be driven over, assuming it is their grass.

They will also be mindful of the overall street scene, which includes trees. The street scene is what other people have bought into, and having conservation area status, the intention is probably to preserve it.

I used to live in a similar semi. My neighbours concreted over their entire front garden, inconveniently grassed and shrubbed previously, and installed a rusting, orange VW camper which they were 'getting around to fixing,' and a motor bike in similar condition. To say this altered the street scene would be a massive understatement. It's because of people like them that you will probably find your plans more constrained in these enlightened times.

moneyistooshorttomention

Not to mention that there are now rules about how big an area can be tarmacked over (courtesy of rainwater run-off problems because so many people have done this).

I gather that one can't necessarily take it as read even that an existing driveway can be re-tarmacked over - depends on the size.

Think it's the Government's Planning Portal website that gives information on this.

and Dave is absolutely right on this and one could ask "What first attracted you to this house? Was it because it's in a conservation area?". You just got the downside here - it is a conservation area.

minibbb

Thanks for the replies chaps.

I would be looking to block pave ideally and would retain the existing flower beds as I saw the bit about drainage needed!

It'll look v smart job- no rusty camper van in site I don't think I'd have to drive over the grass to park- the pavement is pretty wide so plenty of room to go on at an angle.

Davesnave

minibbb wrote: »

Thanks for the replies chaps.

I would be looking to block pave ideally and would retain the existing flower beds as I saw the bit about drainage needed!

It'll look v smart job- no rusty camper van in site I don't think I'd have to drive over the grass to park- the pavement is pretty wide so plenty of room to go on at an angle.

You are correct that a surface, even a technically-approved block-paved one, can be created without falling foul of SUDS legislation.

Although I'm sure your front garden would still look great with you in residence, the future has to be considered fluid from a planner's POV.

There's also Highways to consider. Providing an extra space would, on the face of it, look OK, removing one more car from the roadway. But would the extra provision require turn space? Someone more knowledgeable than me might know the answer.

Just being devil's advocate here and not trying to put you off. People are entitled to do whatever they're entitled to do with their own property. I do!

baldelectrician

My dad had permeable tarmac installed, no need for a drain as the water runs through it.


http://www.tarmac.com/solutions/readymix/topmix-permeable/