Before you enlist the services of a landscaping company to help you with your driveway installation, familiarising yourself with the different laws and regulations will ensure you don’t make any costly mistakes.
Planning permission is always something you should investigate, no matter what home renovation project you have in mind. If you carry out work without the necessary permissions in place, you may have to return the property to its previous state.
For driveways, planning permission isn’t usually something you’ll need to arrange, but in certain circumstances it may apply, including:
- If your driveway surface is impermeable
- If you live in a conservation area
- If you own a listed property
- If you’re modifying or installing a dropped kerb
It’s also worth checking out the relevant building regulations. Usually, new driveways won’t need this level of approval, but you will need to ensure that any alterations you want to make don’t have a negative impact on property access or violate safety standards.
And also make sure that you’re fully apprised of the sustainable urban drainage rules, as compliant drainage is now a must for any new or paved front gardens over five square meters.
This is intended to reduce surface water flooding, which is becoming increasingly problematic because of climate change.
As global temperatures rise, rainfall intensity is being amplified, while the ground’s ability to absorb water is compromised. This means that drain networks are overwhelmed by heavy rain, which can’t soak into the soil.
Part of the issue here is that the ground is being increasingly paved over, reducing the ability for rain to soak into the ground even further… hence the need for permeable surfaces to reduce surface water runoff.
Good landscaping materials to use for permeable driveways include:
- Gravel
- Resin
- Permeable block paving
- Pervious concrete
- Porous asphalt
This is something we can advise you further on, of course – so don’t hesitate to give the LW Landscapes team a call.