Will You Need Planning Permission For A Driveway?
Anyone visiting the town can see plenty of gravel driveways in Telford, and in most cases the householders will not have had to apply for planning permission to install these. The same will be true for block paving and any other surface. But there are instances where this will be needed.
In many homes, a driveway comes as standard, a signature feature of a semi or a detached home in suburbia. But many people live in home without driveways and have to make do with street parking instead. For some, fitting a driveway, if there is room, is important, especially if they are not always sure of a parking space or need a drive to park an electric car on while charging it at home.
Those who want to fit a driveway where one was not already in place can usually do so perfectly legally under what are called permitted development rights. However, there can be places where they don’t apply, so it’s wise to check first.
Examples of this include flats and maisonettes, as well as properties that were initially subject to permitted development rights, but were originally purposed as something else (such as shops) before being converted for residential use.
You are more likely to need planning permission for converting a garden to a driveway and dropped kerbs to enable a smooth drive onto it will almost always require planning permission.
The other consideration is where statutory restrictions exist that may restrict what you can do on or around a property. A good example is listed building consent, which may be required of your home is a listed building. Another is where a home is in a conservation area, which means developments may be restricted if they might impinge on the character of the vicinity.
In either case, you should always contact your council planning officer to establish if you need permission for your plans. It may be that a driveway is perfectly permissible, although there may be some limitations concerning the materials used.
Overall, however, there should be very few instances where you cannot legally install a driveway.
