Creating a vehicle access in old wall

[Carol]

Does anyone know of a site with information on the planning issues of creating a car parking space within our garden area? We are hoping to make a hole in an old wall (stands back and awaits the flak!) so we can get our car off the street. I want to check the regulations for minimum sizes and see if we are required to have a turning space. Any ideas, I have tried googling to little avail.
By the way, the wall will be rebuilt lovingly using lime mortar and we are consulting our local buildings trust for suitable style of gate structures, don't think wall is listed, but is in curtilage of several GII and in a CA.

 

[Nemesis]

Then it is possibly curtilage listed and as it's in a conservation area before getting too excited - I suggest a check with the local authority.

 

[arthurw3]

Your access will have to be 3.4M wide and you need to talk to the highways authority about this, before approaching the local authority. They will tell you whether they need you to be able to turn your vehicles in the garden/drive or not, how big the visibility splay will need to be and what sort of drive you need to construct off the highway. When they have said they are happy with you doing that, you can then go into battle with the LA.

Good luck

 

[Nemesis]

Battle?

Suggest strongly you talk first to the CO.

A crossover to park isn't the same as constructing a new driveway, however.

 

[biffvernon]

Maybe it varies in different places, but last time I was involved in such a case we had to put a planning application in to the District Council and they sorted it with Highways.

 

[Nemesis]

Most local authorities will have advice regarding crossovers on their websites - here's a couple:

http://www.haringey.gov.uk/spg_1b_-_parking_in_front_gardens-2.pdf

http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/Travel/Parking/DomesticCrossovers.htm

BUT - this is a conservation area and possibly the wall may be considered listed as curtilage. A discussion about particular circumstances, and the particular wall, and the particular conservation area, with the CO I would strongly suggest as a first step.

 

[ian]

You may find the Highways Department more picky than the CO, depending on the road classification. We had a, "non historic", low wall with vehicle access directly abbutting the B road in our village - no crossover, The centre section is double brick and there is some single infill with a pedestrian access just the right size for another vehicle access. The wall has suffered somewhat with nicks, water splash and exhaust. We spoke with the highways about the safety aspects of repairing/ rebuilding the wall to tidy it up at some time in the future. As an aside we enquired as to whether, if per chance, a combine harvester damaged the wall further, they thought it would be OK to add an extra access to enable us to enter and exit the property always forwards - instead of having to back in or out across the flow of traffic. No problem, but we did not get anything in writing. Last summer a combine harvester smashed down the single wall and damaged the double brick wall. We asked the farmer's bricky who was to repair the damage if he would instead rebuild the double skin wall and leave the demolished section as a second access. Just to be sure we checked with the CO on the bricks and morter we were to use to rebuild like for like. She advised to put in just an LBC just to be on the safe side - 6 copies, plans design and access statement etc. Once submitted we had a request for planning permission as we were rebuilding a boundry wall- £135 extra. We were granted LBC, no problem, but were refused PP by somebody else in the highways department, citing the county plan of restricting new access points onto classified roads for safety reasons. Permission may be granted if we rebuilt the whole wall. I guess we just have to tidy up the standing section of wall and live with a tired wall. Don't know if they will issue an enforcement to rebuild the previous section of wall ?

 

[Pford75]

Depending on your setting, budget and the ease/cost/deisreability of touching the existing wall, you might want to look at one of these http://www.parkingsolutions.co.uk/

AFAIK, the ability to enter the highway forwards is critical and also the amount of visibility in both directions is key. Our previous house was in a rural location and the council requested 200m visibility in both directions for our entrance. (we subsequently demonstrated that there was a pre-existing access to the highway and that the council's own roadworks have removed the dropped kerb.)

As others point out, you will need to speak with your CO and probably Highways...but I would do your homework first and go into the discussion well informed. Do any of the adjoining properties have access? Is this recent? You should know the extent of visibility, ease of turning etc.

If your vehicle on the highway is presenting an obstruction, this may be in your favour. Is there no other way of gaining vehicular access to your property? If not, does anyone in your family have mobility challenges?

 

[Carol]

We are at a very early stage in our plans and want to 'do our homework' before talking to CO and highways, hence question. We are in a small medieval town with major parking problems and our cars occupy two spaces in a car park or on the road, so informal chats with councillors lead us to believe they would support a sympathetic plan. Access is onto a narrow back road between two old stable buildings now converted to garages, with limited lines of sight, our wall is already breached for pedestrian access. Visibilility splays and the turning problem are probably the key factors we need to research. We also have a new CO whose sympathies and bugbears are not yet known!

 

[Nemesis]

There are issues with demolition of boundary walls above a metre in height, and listed and conservation area status. It's not about personal bugbears of the CO, it's about national and local policy for conservation areas and listed structures. Councillors don't always have a great deal of idea of the specifics in my experience.

Then Highways will have its own thoughts about this particular access. It's difficult to be general when each one has its own specific problems.