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Hi Everybody,
I would like to add a second vehicular access to my property with a new garage at the bottom of our garden. I have been told by our county council Highways department that I need to apply for a 'dropped kerb' licence as although I don't need a dropped kerb, or in fact to cross any pavement or verge, a licence is still required.
There are a few nuances of where my house is located that make me unsure of whether the above requirement is correct (the Highways department refuse to engage in what they consider 'pre-application' questions), and whether this is likely to be approved. They state their initial decision is final and there is no approvals process; I don't want to waste my time and money if they are likely to say no, and the outcome will have a bearing on other works I'm doing in the garden. Any advice as to my actual position on this would really help me!
The lane that I live on has a t-junction at my house, my house is situated at this junction, and faces the part of the lane that offshoots the main lane. The offshoot serves my house and seven others, and is a no-through road, it is also unadopted and owned in part by each of the houses that it serves including one that only uses it for side-gate access. The main lane carries on past the side of my house and the length of my garden serving about 15-20 other properties and is a no-through road, though adopted a few decades ago (previously the deeds for our house showed we owned the land halfway across this road). Currently we have a driveway at the front of the house which exits on to the unadopted portion of the lane.
I would like to build a garage at the end of our garden, with a driveway and access on to the adopted portion of the lane. There is no pavement or verge between my property and the road surface itself, a large ~2m high hedgerow runs the length of my garden and serves as the current border. This would not be a regularly used driveway or garage, it would be to store and work on a cherished car (or two).
After several e-mails to the Highways department I managed to extract that they think I still need a licence, although all of the documentation talks about the licence being valid for only 6 months and that any works (i.e. lowering kerbs) must take place within this time. As I will need no changes to be made I don't understand why a) I need a licence, and b) why it would only be valid for 6 months. I could understand if it was a licence for permission to use it, but then surely that wouldn't expire?
I am also concerned by a statement in the application pack that reads "Applications for two vehicle crossing to a single property, or a second access point where one already exists, will not normally be approved for domestic dwellings unless there is strong evidence that it will add significantly to highway safety". I don't have grounds to argue on adding to highway safety but also don't see why my request would be unreasonable, and I don't know how to argue this point in the application. I did also wonder whether the existing driveway exiting on to an unadopted road means that it doesn't county as an access to a highway, although I understand this might be a cheeky interpretation of the rules?
My last concern is about visibility splays. The guidance they have provided shows measurements taken 2m from the kerb line, of which there isn't one so I assume this would be the road edge which is the boundary of my property. I assume I would still have to provide a visibility splay of xx metres from the point that I access the highway, however this becomes very difficult due to the lack of pavement. The lane is very quiet and there are less than 15 houses beyond the point that my proposed driveway would exit, it is two cars wide but there is always a row of cars parked against our hedgerow leaving only a single-cars width for vehicles passing. Their splay guidelines talk only about 30mph roads (60m visibility), 30mph with traffic calming (43m visibility), and 20mph zone (33m visibility). Technically the lane would be 30mph but given the size of and nature of it 60m visibility seems ridiculous?
Badly drawn (and photographed) diagram of my property and surroundings attached to add some context.
Any help and advice that can be offered would be most gratefully received!
Many thanks,
Mark.
I would like to add a second vehicular access to my property with a new garage at the bottom of our garden. I have been told by our county council Highways department that I need to apply for a 'dropped kerb' licence as although I don't need a dropped kerb, or in fact to cross any pavement or verge, a licence is still required.
There are a few nuances of where my house is located that make me unsure of whether the above requirement is correct (the Highways department refuse to engage in what they consider 'pre-application' questions), and whether this is likely to be approved. They state their initial decision is final and there is no approvals process; I don't want to waste my time and money if they are likely to say no, and the outcome will have a bearing on other works I'm doing in the garden. Any advice as to my actual position on this would really help me!
The lane that I live on has a t-junction at my house, my house is situated at this junction, and faces the part of the lane that offshoots the main lane. The offshoot serves my house and seven others, and is a no-through road, it is also unadopted and owned in part by each of the houses that it serves including one that only uses it for side-gate access. The main lane carries on past the side of my house and the length of my garden serving about 15-20 other properties and is a no-through road, though adopted a few decades ago (previously the deeds for our house showed we owned the land halfway across this road). Currently we have a driveway at the front of the house which exits on to the unadopted portion of the lane.
I would like to build a garage at the end of our garden, with a driveway and access on to the adopted portion of the lane. There is no pavement or verge between my property and the road surface itself, a large ~2m high hedgerow runs the length of my garden and serves as the current border. This would not be a regularly used driveway or garage, it would be to store and work on a cherished car (or two).
After several e-mails to the Highways department I managed to extract that they think I still need a licence, although all of the documentation talks about the licence being valid for only 6 months and that any works (i.e. lowering kerbs) must take place within this time. As I will need no changes to be made I don't understand why a) I need a licence, and b) why it would only be valid for 6 months. I could understand if it was a licence for permission to use it, but then surely that wouldn't expire?
I am also concerned by a statement in the application pack that reads "Applications for two vehicle crossing to a single property, or a second access point where one already exists, will not normally be approved for domestic dwellings unless there is strong evidence that it will add significantly to highway safety". I don't have grounds to argue on adding to highway safety but also don't see why my request would be unreasonable, and I don't know how to argue this point in the application. I did also wonder whether the existing driveway exiting on to an unadopted road means that it doesn't county as an access to a highway, although I understand this might be a cheeky interpretation of the rules?
My last concern is about visibility splays. The guidance they have provided shows measurements taken 2m from the kerb line, of which there isn't one so I assume this would be the road edge which is the boundary of my property. I assume I would still have to provide a visibility splay of xx metres from the point that I access the highway, however this becomes very difficult due to the lack of pavement. The lane is very quiet and there are less than 15 houses beyond the point that my proposed driveway would exit, it is two cars wide but there is always a row of cars parked against our hedgerow leaving only a single-cars width for vehicles passing. Their splay guidelines talk only about 30mph roads (60m visibility), 30mph with traffic calming (43m visibility), and 20mph zone (33m visibility). Technically the lane would be 30mph but given the size of and nature of it 60m visibility seems ridiculous?
Badly drawn (and photographed) diagram of my property and surroundings attached to add some context.
Any help and advice that can be offered would be most gratefully received!
Many thanks,
Mark.
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