Widening my driveway

Section62

warwick2001 said:

Can you please clarify, I assume you mean the wall that runs down the drive, rather than the wall running along the pavement?

No, sorry, I meant the wall running along the pavement. You said you were going to leave the dropped kerb as is, but chop some of the wall back.  I thought you meant this one, to give you a wider entrance. Apologies if not.

markin

I would leave the front wall alone, dig out 1ft of grass at the depth to have the copping stone almost level and slide them over, Fill in the new gap with gravel, paving slabs, or brick.

 

warwick2001

Ok, so, after speaking to the wife last night, she brought up a good point.

At the entrance to the driveway, there is a gap of about 1 1/2ft between the car and the wall end-post where the 'pavement-wall' and the 'drive-wall' meet (the drive isn't long enough to move the car further up towards the house due to the 2nd car). Having tried last night to get my SiL's child's buggy through the gap, its too small. Therefore, it seems pretty inevitable that we will have to widen the drive entrance, by approx 2 ft. Which means altering the 'pavement wall'.

Unfortunately I suspect this means I'll have to contact the council. Which means I'll probably have to give them more money.....

Thanks everyone for your help and advice

warwick2001

Section62 said:

warwick2001 said:

Can you please clarify, I assume you mean the wall that runs down the drive, rather than the wall running along the pavement?

No, sorry, I meant the wall running along the pavement. You said you were going to leave the dropped kerb as is, but chop some of the wall back.  I thought you meant this one, to give you a wider entrance. Apologies if not.

No apologies necessary, I re-read your post, and realised I was being the plank. As per usual....

As my post above, we will defo need to widen the drive entrance

Slinky

I'd not bother with the council if it was me for 2 feet of wall, will they really care in the overall great scheme of things? It wouldn't even occur to me to do so.

unforeseen

I don't see why the council will care. You can take the whole wall down and if anybody questions it say you want open plan at the front. 
If the council want a boundary feature then it's up to them but they can't force you to erect one or maintain it (unless it becomes dangerous) 

Section62

unforeseen said:

I don't see why the council will care. You can take the whole wall down and if anybody questions it say you want open plan at the front. 
If the council want a boundary feature then it's up to them but they can't force you to erect one or maintain it (unless it becomes dangerous) 

If the alterations require planning consent and the OP proceeds without, then the council can indeed force them to re-erect the wall.

The question is whether or not the alterations the OP has in mind require an application and consent.

Slinky

Section62 said:

unforeseen said:

I don't see why the council will care. You can take the whole wall down and if anybody questions it say you want open plan at the front. 
If the council want a boundary feature then it's up to them but they can't force you to erect one or maintain it (unless it becomes dangerous) 

If the alterations require planning consent and the OP proceeds without, then the council can indeed force them to re-erect the wall.

In which case he can rebuild the 2ft of wall and comply with the council's request.  Looking at the photos of the street scene, it appears that frontages vary on other houses, and it wouldn't appear to be a conservation area, so the chances of anybody caring have to be pretty low providing he does a tidy job and doesn't just knock the brickwork back and leave a messy end.

Section62

Slinky said:

Section62 said:

unforeseen said:

I don't see why the council will care. You can take the whole wall down and if anybody questions it say you want open plan at the front. 
If the council want a boundary feature then it's up to them but they can't force you to erect one or maintain it (unless it becomes dangerous) 

If the alterations require planning consent and the OP proceeds without, then the council can indeed force them to re-erect the wall.

In which case he can rebuild the 2ft of wall and comply with the council's request.  Looking at the photos of the street scene, it appears that frontages vary on other houses, and it wouldn't appear to be a conservation area, so the chances of anybody caring have to be pretty low providing he does a tidy job and doesn't just knock the brickwork back and leave a messy end.

What does a conservation area look like then?

None of us, including the OP, know whether the road is a classified one or not.  We also don't know if it is a conservation area (despite any appearances) or if there is an article 4 direction in place.  We also don't know if one of the OP's neighbours is a member of the unofficial planning police.

So the smart thing to do is to find out what the situation is with planning, and then make a decision whether or not the council may care about the alterations.  Rather than assuming it will all be fine and reaching for the sledgehammer in the potentially mistaken belief there is nothing the council can do about it.

Personally I have my doubts the planners will be much interested, but I don't know that. Hence my advice.

sheramber

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/fences-gates-and-garden-walls/planning-permission


You will need to use a permeable surface for the extended bit of the drive.