Drive Advice

[Lewis's Friend]

I was wondering whether someone with some experience of such things could help me with some advice...

I currently have a drive with a drop kerb running the length of my front garden and down the side of my house. There is room for two cars at a push nose-to-tail, but this is hastle to change them over etc, and parking can be very tight down my road.

As such, I was thinking about re-doing the front garden into one large car-storage area! Leaving aside the cost of having this done to a good standard, I had a few questions for anyone in the know.

1) what is the best type of surface to have put down? I use the drive to work on my cars, so I need to be able to jack them up, and occasionally leave them up on axle stands safely (so gravel etc is out). Also, I will spill their fluids on it at some stage so something reasonably hard-wearing would be good. And I'd like it to look nice, so I'm not too hard to please!

2) what is involved in getting my drop kerb extended (assuming this can be done)? The current one is pretty narrow for a modern car. Even widening it by one kerb-stone would be very helpful - this would still be well within the width of my property.

3) I have a tree in my front garden (no idea what type). This would have to go, which is rather a shame, but sadly unavoidable. Is there any problem with this? Or can it just be removed?

All advice and thoughts are gratefully recieved.

[Pheo]

RE surface - has to be SUDS compliant (permeable etc)

Re tree - depends if it has a Tree Protection Order in place

[Grandad Gaz]

If it's in Letchworth, Herts, then forget it!

[trickywoo]

Pheo said:

RE surface - has to be SUDS compliant (permeable etc)

To clarify the surface doesn't need to be permeable if suitable drainage is in place.

Its not really a big deal but some people want to spin it out for some extra £

[Lewis's Friend]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I have just phoned up the council and can say that there is no TPO on my property, so that's good at least...

[Swervin_Mervin]

Extension of your dropped kerb - look on your highway authority's website as they usually have a fixed price for this sort of thing. It's not as cheap as it (relatively) used to be though in many areas.

[Foliage]

Concrete

[V8RX7]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Extension of your dropped kerb - look on your highway authority's website as they usually have a fixed price for this sort of thing. It's not as cheap as it (relatively) used to be though in many areas.

Some won't extend them - mine wouldn't.

[Royce44]

Definitely not tarmac then. Oil spills will eat through it. Jack's dent it too.

I'd go concretecwith rebar or it can crack like mine did

[worsy]

Sealed block paving. If you did manage to stain it you could simply change the affected blocks. Go with Clay not concrete though.

[kryten22uk]

Lewis's Friend said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

I have just phoned up the council and can say that there is no TPO on my property, so that's good at least...

If you live in a conservation area, then any tree work (from minor clipping to felling) must obtain planning permission (well the tree equivalent), not just TPO trees. If you're outside a conservation area, then you can do what you like with a non-TPO tree.

For clarity, your council's website will have maps of all TPOs and Conservation Areas; very useful. Heres the Tonbridge (Kent) version for comparison.
https://www.tmbc.gov.uk/services/planning-and-deve...

[Lewis's Friend]

Again, thanks for the feedback.

I suppose the next thing is to sound out the council about extending the drop kerb. Looking at their website, the standard width is 2.4m - mine is definitely smaller than that so surely they should be amenable to extending it to at least that size?

I like the look of the block paving. Especially in darker colours (hopefully to hide the oil)! I'll have to have a look at concrete though, and see what options/finishes are possible.

[Lewis's Friend]

kryten22uk said:

Lewis's Friend said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

I have just phoned up the council and can say that there is no TPO on my property, so that's good at least...

If you live in a conservation area, then any tree work (from minor clipping to felling) must obtain planning permission (well the tree equivalent), not just TPO trees. If you're outside a conservation area, then you can do what you like with a non-TPO tree.

For clarity, your council's website will have maps of all TPOs and Conservation Areas; very useful. Heres the Tonbridge (Kent) version for comparison.
https://www.tmbc.gov.uk/services/planning-and-deve...

Thanks for that, but I can say that I definitely don't live anywhere that requires conservation...!