New Government legislation for front garden
paving
From 1st October 2008 the permitted developement rights that
allow householders to pave their front gardens for hard standings
without planning permission has changed. Planning permission
is now required to lay traditional impermeable driveways that
allow uncontrolled runoff of rainwater from the front gardens
onto the road because this can contribute to flooding and
polution of watercourses
If a new driveway or parking area is constructed using
permeable surfaces such as permeable block paving, porous
asphalt or gravel or if the water is able to soak into the
ground via soil borders or a soakaway you will not require
planning permission
These new planning rules also apply to where existing hardstanding
are being replaced and apply to hard surfaces exceeding
5 square metres in area
Applying for planning permission will require you to fill
in an application form, draw plans which have to be to scale
and pay a fee of £ 150. Planning applications for
this type of development should normally be decided within
8 weeks after submisson
The Reason
More and more householders are laying hard surfaces over
front gardens to provide off-road parking. At present there
are no restrictions on a householder's ability to do so.
Hard surfaces lead to accelerated run-off of surface water
which can overload sewerage systems in more urban areas.
This problem is likely to intensify as climate change produces
more torrential downpours.
The Government intends, therefore, to require that paving
installed using permitted development rights does not make
this problem worse.
In future paving in front gardens wll not be permitted
development rights unless the surface allows the water to
drain away naturally.
This can be achieved in a number of ways - most simply
by ensuring that water runs off to an unpaved area such
as a garden border.
SUDS - Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
When considering covering a larger area with paving, or blocks,
dealing with rainfall is a serious consideration. During a
typical storm, vast amounts of water can fall onto the large
area of a car park or driveway, and this has to go somewhere.
The worst thing you can do is to create a water trap, where
huge lakes are created whenever there is a downpour!
Problems of water management are worsened when you have to
cover an area which has slopes and low points. These are the
natural places for water to head, and they will get silted
up and damaged very quickly unless something is done to prevent
the water running to these points in the first place.
The modern solution to covering a large area, is to use permeable
paving. This consists of small brick or concrete sections
closely set together, but not actually physically connected
together. These can be laid out in an attractive pattern,
for example marking parking places and roadways with different
colours. However the secret to a permeable paving area is
the way that rain water is handled.
Permeable paving blocks are often laid upon oil separation
layers in car parks. This is in turn placed on a permeable
aggregate layer, which allows water to disperse in the area
where it falls. There is no need to add in a complicated sewerage
system in many cases. For really large areas, a simple piping
system is added so that excess water can be removed and dealt
with, but this is simple to do on all land areas because of
the simple way that the permeable blocks are laid.
Frost damage is unlikely because water is dealt with so efficiently,
and because there is an amount of movement between blocks.
The insulating effect of the blocks also goes a long way to
creating a long lasting covering - much better than a tarmac
covering.
For any larger area, you must consult the experts to have
your land assessed. This will ensure that all of the features
of your particular land, and the uses that you will have,
are taken into account. However, in the long run, a permeable
block paving area, combined with appropriate SUDS will ensure
that you have a long lasting area which is usable all year
round, whatever the weather.
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