So, I'm looking at having a new driveway. The current one is stones / shingle and is both awful to work on cars with, weed central, and not something I'm generally a fan of.

I had a quote today for a permiable resin driveway, at £7k its around twice the price of a decent brick weave, or smart tarmac driveway. These however, since October 2008, now require planning permission and authorisation before having them put in.

Has anyone on here done this before? Whats involved? Where do I start? And what are the costs?

Who'd have thought home ownership and something as simple as a new driveway could be so complex!

Well in this country you start off with your local council planning department.

Which council are you under ?

Depending on the area might depend on what you can or can't put down, someone's advices might be accurate but not apply in your area

Most Easterly Pandas said:

So, I'm looking at having a new driveway. The current one is stones / shingle and is both awful to work on cars with, weed central, and not something I'm generally a fan of.

I had a quote today for a permiable resin driveway, at £7k its around twice the price of a decent brick weave, or smart tarmac driveway. These however, since October 2008, now require planning permission and authorisation before having them put in.

Has anyone on here done this before? Whats involved? Where do I start? And what are the costs?

Who'd have thought home ownership and something as simple as a new driveway could be so complex!

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give the local planning Dept. a call.
at least you'll get an idea on local policy ( mine are / were mega strict / fussy)

are you saying RESIN is DOUBLE the cost.. or half..??

biggest bonus of block pave is = mess IF you have a pipe / cable supply issue .. and have to lift it for access -

we've got pattern imprinted concrete.. fantastic for low maint..

but would get absolutely trashed if we needed to dig..

charlie

AndyRKett said:

Which council are you under ?

Depending on the area might depend on what you can or can't put down, someone's advices might be accurate but not apply in your area

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South Norfolk. I emailed last night, had a reply today with a link to www.planningportal.co.uk, which isn't too helpful as it was what I was looking at last night and doesn't really give any specifics from what I could see.

varesecrazy said:

are you saying RESIN is DOUBLE the cost.. or half..??

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Double, if it were half I'd have snapped it up due to not requiring planning permission

I think that planning is required if any surface causes water to run off rather than drain into. So block paving would be ok, as would any paving with gaps, but a full surface would need planning. Might have to create drainage channels to take surface water to a drain.
I'd have expected a good supplier to be able to advise about planning, and maybe help or do it for you, rather than just expect you to get it first. Maybe a phone call or visit to local planning office would be a first step.

I'm in south Norfolk, most places round where I live have brickweave so that may be a suitable self draining drive material for this area. I think the rules only apply to what is between the house and the road, so down the side of the house you can do what you want.

No you can't do what you want.
The rules are to reduce risk of flooding from rain water running too quickly off non permeable surfaces.
There will be rules covering what goes under the finish layer too.
This is probably the most common enquiry the planning department deal with.
Give them a ring , be nice and I am sure you will get all the help you need.
If you already have a drop kerb , lucky you. they are a pain to get all the permissions from your county council, permissions cost a lot, application costs a lot, you have to use a highways approved contractor- guess what? Yes costs a fortune.

If/when consulting them, bear in mind that brickweave is not great for jacking cars up. But it is very handy over the top of drains, pipes and electricity supplies.
Some of the permeable tarmac types also are not great at coping with the point loads of jacks and axle stands.
We have brickweave but also have a concrete pad for working on cars, which works pretty well.

We're also in South Norfolk area so... I wish you good luck.
I have found them pretty unhelpful (and sometimes just completely inconsistent) in all dealings so far. Some of their decisions amazed our architect, who had used exactly the same plans & specifications in a neighbouring area with no issues (things improved a little when we explained that!). Perhaps the SN planning missed out on some training days...
Hopefully you get to talk to one of the better ones.

jackwhoo said:

No you can't do what you want.
The rules are to reduce risk of flooding from rain water running too quickly off non permeable surfaces.

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Local south Norfolk planning rules on drives only applies to the land between the house and the road, so I stand by what it said, if it is beside the house or behind it, you CAN do what you want.

Also bizarrely, Norfolk very very rarely floods.

AndyRKett said:

Also bizarrely, Norfolk very very rarely floods.

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Only when there's a hosepipe ban.

Surface water flooding can happen anywhere if there is a low area and bad drainage. The fire service were pumping out a property in Thetford just last year after heavy rain. But true to say, if Norfolk floods properly, it becomes an inland sea ;-)

AndyRKett said:

Local south Norfolk planning rules on drives only applies to the land between the house and the road, so I stand by what it said, if it is beside the house or behind it, you CAN do what you want.

Also bizarrely, Norfolk very very rarely floods.

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Didn't mean any offence.

You must have checked the most up to date rules after your post saying you think planning doesn't apply to land beside behind house.

Still think it's better for anyone to get their own up to date advice from their local planning department , planning rules do change,
but hey it's just an opinion.

Permeability rules in planning were introduced not specifically to target Norfolk . The rules filtered down from central government for the whole country following flooding in many other parts of the country .

AndyRKett said:

Local south Norfolk planning rules on drives only applies to the land between the house and the road,

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Now this could be interesting, as essentially I'm a corner plot on a cup-de-sac, and the driveway is at the 9 o'clock position to the end of road turning point, and property at 11 o'clock with garage at 10 o'clock and a separate plot of single front garden in front of the house between the property and the road.

I'll look to phone on Monday, or may even go in in person as they're only around the corner.