Bullseye

Hi, I am in the process of working out the best options for a driveway for a house build. The house build planning permission included a driveway, but one of conditions of the planning was that the council want me to submit a drawing with details of the material and gates etc before I do the drive and occupy the house. My questions is, is there a rule that for new builds I have to use tarmac for the drive to road surface? The chap who did my ground works says that it has to be tarmac but I’m thinking of gravel because it’s the cheaper option. Any ideas are appreciated, thanks.

My husband and I are building a 5 bed house. We started foundations December 2020, nothing happened for a couple of months while the weather was bad, during Spring and Summer there was good progress with nearly all the structure being finished with the exception of a barrel roof having ply but no metal roof. We have given ourselves a bigger and more complicated project than what we had anticipated, building a traditional brick and mortar L shaped bedroom section with a courtyard and a mono pitch followed by a Dutch barn style living area. Basically we bought the plot with planning consent Q and obtained full planning but didn’t change the original plans in order for planning not to refuse us. Half of the joinery is in, my husband is doing this all himself and UFH installation starts next week. We both work, my husband owns and runs his own joinery business full time and I work 4 days a week and we have 4 children. Life is pretty full on, apart from the main trades- plumber, electrician, plasterer, groundworks, we are building it ourselves. There’s never enough time to get things done. We have decided to block off the L section and move into that area for Spring and finish the Dutch barn section on site over time, otherwise it’s going to be a very long time before we move. I am hoping to get some support on here, share ideas and it’s good to hear others going through similar wins and battles!