No gravel!

[simplepimple]

Hi Buildhubbers

 

I had planned on using gravel as the most cost effective driveway but planners have said no & that the driveway needs to be a bound surface - I'm not sure what this means? Paved perhaps?

 

Any ideas regarding the second cheapest option that might be suitable? 

 

 

[PeterW]

Are you sure the PP is not for the first 3 or 5  metres to be surface bound..? That is normally the requirement.

 

It is to stop any loose surface material spreading onto the road surface outside the driveway.

 

Tarmac or resin bound gravel would be your next cheapest

[simplepimple]

 

1 minute ago, PeterW said:

Are you sure the PP is not for the first 3 or 5  metres to be surface bound..? That is normally the requirement.

 

It is to stop any loose surface material spreading onto the road surface outside the driveway.

 

Tarmac or resin bound gravel would be your next cheapest

 

Exactly right Peter - although my driveway is quite small - only 2.7 m wide at the narrowest point and 12.5 m long so I was thinking of using the same material for it all but perhaps thinking more creatively and having two surfaces could be a better idea. Though the land does slope up slightly as it moves away from the road. 

 

 

[Mr Punter]

Whatever surface you go for you will need the same good stable sub base of type 1.

 

By the time you have used bound surface for the bit near the road, you may as well have the same finish over all.  Gravel is very wheelchair unfriendly and the smaller unbound stuff gets picked up on shoes.  The tar and chippings can lead to you getting tar on footwear, tracked in the house or car.

 

Block paving or tarmac for me.

 

https://www.pavingexpert.com/ is an excellent site for these projects.

[Carrerahill]

2 hours ago, simplepimple said:

Hi Buildhubbers

 

I had planned on using gravel as the most cost effective driveway but planners have said no & that the driveway needs to be a bound surface - I'm not sure what this means? Paved perhaps?

 

Any ideas regarding the second cheapest option that might be suitable? 

 

 

Hmmm. The whole thing?

 

I hate with a passion people who have drives/carbays with gravel and most of the gravel ends up on the pavement/road which just get ground into the running surface and wears it down, planners know this also and often the first section should be solid, however, I am surprised they are looking for a whole drive to be bound as that is not conducive to draining your drive within your own land. 

 

Bound means "bound" in as much as the stuff is held together, tarmac is a bound surface.

[simplepimple]

Semi permeable was listed as the surface for driveways by the Council which is why I felt gravel might be best - but obviously not for the first 5m. 

 

If only I was in Kent - they have a cheap stone that's a lot larger than 20ml so it doesn't drift onto the highway or into your house on shoes. 

 

Maybe concrete would be an option - ugly though it is. 

[Mr Punter]

Liner drain across the threshold to the road piped to a soakaway, then you can use whatever you want.  They just don't want runoff from the drive.

[Gone West]

6 hours ago, simplepimple said:

I had planned on using gravel as the most cost effective driveway but planners have said no & that the driveway needs to be a bound surface - I'm not sure what this means?

We had a planning condition that said the first 6m of our drive had to be 'properly consolidated material, not loose gravel'. We went for resin bound on permeable tarmac near the road and then self binding gravel. They just didn't want loose material being pulled onto the road. Complete joke here because the lane is covered in muck off the fields all winter.

[simplepimple]

13 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

Liner drain across the threshold to the road piped to a soakaway, then you can use whatever you want.  They just don't want runoff from the drive.

 

I did say that was how it was going to be done but Highways didn't like that suggestion and have said no. 

[epsilonGreedy]

@simplepimple what is the speed limit on the public road?

 

I have a lot of sympathy with the Council's demands having previously lived on a 40mph country road where some drives spread cheap round p gravel onto the road near a blind corner.

[Mr Punter]

1 hour ago, simplepimple said:

I did say that was how it was going to be done but Highways didn't like that suggestion and have said no. 

 

Sorry I did not make clear there are 2 issues here:

 

(1).  You cannot have loose gravel getting on the road.

 

(2).  You cannot have surface water runoff from your driveway to the road.

 

You could have a permeable bound paving or permeable block paving with special sub base and bedding which would solve both but is expensive

 

You could have any solid paving to solve (1) and a linear drain to solve (2)

 

I suspect your proposal to highways was for loose gravel, which would not solve (1) hence their response.

 

[simplepimple]

3 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

@simplepimple what is the speed limit on the public road?

 

I have a lot of sympathy with the Council's demands having previously lived on a 40mph country road where some drives spread cheap round p gravel onto the road near a blind corner.

 

It's a cul-de-sac 30 mph though it's only a few houses with a bend midway along so it would be fairly

difficult to reach 30 mph before you hit the junction at the end. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by simplepimple

[simplepimple]

Great website Mr P - thank you. 

[Pete]

I just did my drive in 20mm limestone. The pavement is approx 2m across and I never have any stone getting onto the pavement. I made sure we had a good  40mm step in the pavement edging which would contain the stone and then wackered  it all down 

[simplepimple]

Thanks for that idea Pete - my gravel was going to be the 20mm type but it was still a no from the team at Highways. At least I have time to consider all options - there's currently a lampost almost bang in the middle of the entrance that requires relocation. Pretty sure that's not happening soon. ?