Period Dropped Kerb

[malcolm]

I've applied for a dropped kerb 2 cars wide. Levels will stay much the same and presumably they will resurface the pavement to make it suitable for driving over. The quote is £4,050. The highest price I found anyone else paying for a dropped kerb on the internet was £2000 so I might have set a new record.

Seems Central Bedfordshire allow only one contractor to do this sort of thing, so presumably they can charge what they like. It's a condition of my planning application so I can't really avoid it.

I'll ask the estimator to come back for another look once the driveway levels are finished in case he got confused. I'll check with the council to see if I can use a contractor who builds perfectly acceptable dropped kerbs in other counties (but don't hold out much hope). Any other options anyone can think of? Anyone know what the fine is for doing it illegally? Conditions of planning and building regs change of use will eat up my budget before I start, and I need a bit left to sort spreading walls and rotten timber.

 

[Penners]

Anyone know what the fine is for doing it illegally?

I've no idea what the fine would be, Malcolm, but I'd bet a tidy sum that - in addition to the fine - you'd be required to have your unauthorised work torn up and done again by the accredited contractor.

So you'd be back to square one, and the poorer by the amount of the fine.

I'm afraid the technical term for your situation is probably... stuffed.

 

[malcolm]

Good point well made.

I should probably contact another building regs person for the change of use to see if I can save money that way (looking at £50K to do it properly). Current one doesn't have a lot of sympathy for the structure and has suggested cheap insulation on existing walls to meet regs, but doesn't seem to take into account ground levels and interior or exterior breathability which would need to be sorted first. Silly thing is most of the building works to some extent as it is.

I'm just rambling and ranting. On he plus side a second structural engineer came around Wednesday and was really sympathetic to the place. Unlike the first one he didn't suggest anything that would cause cracks after a few years.

 

[Penners]

Unlike the first one he didn't suggest anything that would cause cracks after a few years.

But was he wearing a hard hat? :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

Worth a protest email to your Councillor?

Extending our dropped kerb cost me £500, I had to use an approved contractor but there was a long list of them. Worst bit was dealing with the miserable jobsworth woman at Telford & Wrekin Council for the permission - she couldn't have been less helpful if she'd tried, everything was too much trouble.

 

[malcolm]

Probably ought to phone the council on Monday to see if there are any other options. The scale of the quote suggests not.

I can save the money in building regs. They suggested insulated plasterboard and dry lining on the walls for the change of use. I decided that wouldn't work due to unbreathable paint outside and high external ground levels ect. (I don't recommend anyone attempts to strip paint from the outside - it's a nightmare). Also most of the insulation will need to be disturbed for structural repairs such as the leaning wall in the barn that is still moving and wants sorting really.

As the insulation required is in unheated rooms what they suggest won't cause too much damage to the building in the short term. It might well cause least environmental damage just to bung it on as they want and throw it away afterwards rather than doing it properly.

Will definitely send a letter to the council if I can't resolve the dropped kerb.

Sorry - I'm just whining now. It's good to vent. Many things are silly in my opinion.

 

[Keithj]

Dropped kerbs are a way for cash-strapped councils to make up deficits. We wanted one for our place in Norfolk. The quote was around £2,500 and only the council could do it. I asked a "bloke I know" who reckoned £250 would be about right, so I suggested to the council that was the price I'd pay them. A friendly chap phoned to explain that if they drop the kerb, then they have to reinforce the pavement to carry the weight of a maximum size lorry driving over it. That's the law, sir, sorry.

We just bumped up over the kerb. I did think about a railway sleeper cut down to make a ramp, but never got round to it.

 

[davidbrac]

when we had a dropped curve when we lived in Surrey the cost was £500, that was fourteen years ago.

If you don't get anywhere with this ask someone else to give you a quote and then have another discussion with the council, maybe ask your local councillor for help.

 

[paulb33]

I suspect it also serves as a disincentive...

 

[skier-hughes]

Current Staffordshire cost is circa £1850, maybe because it is a double size, they just doubled the price!
I went round to our friends the other day to collect some wood, he just laid some tarmac at a 45' angle up to the top of the kerbstone. As many of the neighbours had also done the same, nobody was going to tell on anyone else, so until the council have a problem with drainage or send a roadside sweeper round they all get away with it!!

 

[PeterI]

Sounds expensive. As we're on a red route in London I've been told we need to get permission from TfL (and it's unlikely to be granted) to get a drop kerb so we just bump over the pavement.

Interestingly as the property is listed there is a photograph from 2000 with a car in the current position which gives us 14 years worth of access rights which can give customary usage rights.

Finally 7 doors down is a solicitors who have exactly the same problem if either the council or TfL decide to get interested...

 

[Penners]

I dunno - all this talk of kerbs, councils and tarmac ramps. Around here if you want access for your car you just get your spade out and cut a gap in the grass verge.

 

[malcolm]

My kerb is a bit high to drive over. Though it would be straightforward to remove the end and replace it with cobble setts without disturbing any tarmac. It's dropped about 1m into the edge of the property so I can just about drive around it so long as the neighbours aren't parked there. I suppose I'm lucky to be allowed to drop the kerb.

It's frustrating getting all the huge unexpected bills. Before I can think about building a garage it will cost £4000 for the dropped kerb and £2000 for an archaeologist. That's the trouble doing it for the first time - it's difficult to work out what to expect.

 

[Penners]

This thread is certainly an eye-opener for anyone planning an urban period property project with, perhaps, a new driveway. I don't think the cost of getting a dropped kerb would have occurred to me, as part of the budgeting process.