dropped kerbs/planning permissions/highways/appeals

[moonkat]

hello, would really appreciate any sound advice.. i live on a main road, i want to drop my kerb out front as have a large driveway, i do have rear access, there is an alley way but as my house benefits from a large extension and sits on the corner turn, my garden is small, creating a parking space would leave me without any garden. I have 2 very small children and at the moment ( as parking is restricted hours outside my property) i have to walk approx. 30 metres and cross the main road with 2 babies to get in and out of the car/house. I understand that dropped kerbs are refused here on account of the main road and rear access ( although atleast 5 houses have both). I desperatley need to give it my best shot so if anyone knows anything i can do to get the best chance or if anyone knows if i can hire a consultant that deals with dropped kerbs like any other planning?? or if anyone has fought/appealed this kind of thing and won, would love to hear from you.

many thanks

 

[DevilDamo]

I'm sure the first point of call would be to speak to your neighbours to see if they too would benefit from additional dropped kerbs because that can usually be the main reasoning with a lot of decisions of similar nature.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

All counties have a roads guide which determines what standards public roads and access onto them ought to achieve. Here is the one for Devon for example: http://www.devon.gov.uk/highwaysdesignguidepart1.pdf You will probably find the relevant one for your area online somewhere. As you can see they can be a little difficult to fathom at first but really they are fairly simple in terms of what you need to achieve although ultimately they are only guides and each case will be examined on a case by case basis.

Ultimately if you wish to pursue it you will need to make a planning application although personally for now I would recommend you pursue this with a Pre-Application Planning Enquiry if your Local Authority allow such enquires (some do and some do not, likewise some charge and some do not. This involves submitting a simple form, a site location plan and a drawing of your site showing the driveway with full dimensions of the roads, pavement, proposed driveway position and size etc etc. You may also have to provide details of how you intend to drain the driveway if its hard ie block paviors etc. Include a few photos and an accompanying letter explaining/justifying your proposal. In return (assuming your Local Authority run an official enquiry service) you will receive a detailed response which will also have gone under the nose of Highways which will detail the merits of the application whether they consider such an application will be successful or not and why not if applicable. You can then use this response to decide whether it is worth putting in a full application or not.

Whilst it will be submitted to the Planning Department, it will also be examined by the Highways department. Highways will examine to application and its acceptance will be determined by standards that your local authority have in place and must adhere to. Or at least that's the theory. Site lines and the driveway within the boundary will also come into play ie whether you can turn round and whether when you drive out you can see down the road without wiping out another car etc. They will also look at existing parking issues in your area.

You can produce these yourself or employ someone to do it, it depends on your confidence! If you get a technician to do this it should cost you in the region of £200-300. Depending on the area you live in a Design & Access Statement may need to be prepared costing a little bit more. You will pay an arm and a leg if pay a Planning Consultant or a Highways Consultant to do it although arguably it may be worth it if there are difficult challenges to get over that the Pre-Planning Enquiry reveals.

 

[moonkat]

thanks so much for your time guys, really helpful and fully appreciated.

 

[scoobydo123]

Freddy's twin,

You seem well informed. I have a similar issue where I applied for a dropped kerb in a residential side street that has no parking restrictions. The application was before the new legisation regarding the construction of driveways and drainage etc. I had already dug out the current covering which was heavy concrete slabs but had not took the boundary wall down. I went on the council web portal and downloaded the appropiate forms to submit. The form contained all the dimensions required to progress the appliaction. There was no mention of minimun depth required between front boundary wall and the property. I even phoned the council and spoke to someone in highways who confirmed that all relevant dimensions that are required are contained in the form. After the 12 weeks wait I got a refusal based on the grounds that as a "normal" car could not park on the drive face on to the property due to lack of depth. However there is ample width 10 meters to park perpendicual to the front of the property no problems. There are other propertys in the area that have dropped kerbs that "do not have" the sufficent depth which were done before my request. I have checked the minimim prescribed dimensions for a parking bay and I have almost 3 times the amount. The area suffers from lack of parking due to being close to train station and also local hospital (weekends are not so bad). Not sure if relevant but they also went for restricted/ residential parking recently but this got thrown out due to too many people against.

Thanks

 

[DevilDamo]

When altering/providing new parking spaces, LA's usually ask to see a space measuring 2.4m wide x 4.8m long.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm sorry but do you have specific questions?

When did this application take place?

I'm not quite sure I follow you when you say 'The form contained all the dimensions required to progress the application', did you submit drawings as well?

Could a car turn around on your driveway or would it have to reverse out onto the road? What type of road is it and how busy is it?

A refusal like this can be avoided if a Pre-Planning Application is submitted whereupon the feedback received can be used to decide whether the application has a good chance of approval or not.

TBH its very hard to comment without seeing the site/submitted application documents etc as

each case will be examined on a case by case basis.