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Suffolk Highways - dropped kerb/vehicle access - Criteria
Please use this form if you want permission to construct or extend a domestic dropped kerb/vehicle access for one or two dwellings.
If you want permission for an access to serve more than two dwellings or for industrial, commercial or agricultural premises, check this link for what licence you may need: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/planning-waste-and-environment/planning-and-development-advice/application-for-works-licence/ or email [email protected]
Please read the Criteria below before completing the application form – then detach the application form and send to us with any relevant documentation. Keep this Criteria for yourself and your contractor to refer to if needed.
Criteria
1. The word Highway means the carriageway (road), footway (pavement), public right of way and verges beyond your property boundary, maintained by the Highway Authority. Suffolk County Council is the Highway Authority and Suffolk Highways acts on behalf of them.
When we refer to dropped kerb/vehicle access we mean the area between the road edge and your property boundary which you wish to drive over.
The construction work will be private work carried out on publicly maintainable land and all associated costs must be met in full by you.
2. Highways Consent
We are responsible for protecting the rights of all users of the highway. We refer to the following acts: Highways Act 1980 (sections 171, 174 & 184), New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and Traffic Management Act 2004.
Please do not presume that your property will be approved, not all properties along a section of road can have a vehicle access.
All vehicular access work on the highway requires written permission from us and no work must start until permission has been granted. Work must be undertaken by a contractor accredited with the New Roads and Street works Act 1991 to carry out work within the public highway and hold a minimum of £5 million public liability insurance.
An assessment fee of £300 will be charged by us to cover the cost of processing the application. This includes all admin, site visits and official recording of works. The fee is non-refundable even if the application is refused.
Once you have sent us all we require you will be informed of the outcome within 20 working days.
In the event of refusal, the reasons for this decision will be given in the refusal letter.
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The application will be considered against the criteria below. If you don’t meet these criteria it is likely you will get a refusal.
A. Size of Parking AreaThe minimum size of useable parking space must be 2.5m wide (3m if between solid boundaries, such as walls and fences) by 5m deep (or 6.2m deep if the parking space is in front of a garage or front door. This is to give space to gain access.)
These diagrams show what we mean by ‘shared’ and ‘single’ access and gives the maximum and minimum dimensions we allow.
Shared Access
Single Access
B. Road SafetyOn our site visit, after application, we assess road safety issues such as visibility, proximity to junctions, pedestrian/cycle movements, and the location of street furniture, trees, services etc.
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Visibility splay requirementsGood visibility is essential to enable drivers coming out of an access to see and be seen by drivers and pedestrians using the road or pavement. We have requirements for both pedestrian visibility and vehicular visibility.See drawings and diagrams on pages 7,8,9,10 at the end of the criteria to help understand visibility splays.
Vehicle visibility splay – for all accesses:The required distances for vehicle visibility, depending on the road classification and speed limit, are in the table below. There is a diagram to assist understanding at the end of the application form.
Speed limit30mph 40mph 50mph 60mphRoad classification Urban Rural
Required visibility
A or B 90m 90m 120m 160m 215mC or Unclassified 43m 59m 120m 160m 215m
If the proposed vehicular access is on an A class road, consideration will also be given to whether vehicles can exit and access the road in a forward gear.
The proposed vehicular access must be 10m or more away from a junction on an unclassified road, or 15m or more from an A, B or C class road. Please refer to the drawings on the previous page for how these distances can be measured.
If the property is situated directly on the junction of two roads, it will generally be safer to have the access on the minor, side road.
We will refuse an application if there is a safety issue which can’t be resolved.
C. Increasing the size of an existing crossing If you want to extend an existing vehicular access, we will only allow this if the access is less than the widths in the table below.
Total length of dropped kerbSingle Access
Total length of dropped kerbShared Access
Where a crossing is urban(with a footway)
3.66m = 4 kerbs 5.5m = 6 kerbs
Where a crossing is rural(no footway)
8m = 9 kerbs 11m = 12 kerbs
For example, where an existing single crossing width is 3 dropped kerbs (approx 2.7m), an extension of 1 dropped kerb to make 4 dropped kerbs (3.66m) will only be allowed.
D. Impact on parking in the areaApplications will only be approved when the distance between the proposed new crossing/extension and any existing accesses, to the left and right, is 5m (approximately 6 full height kerbs) or more. 5m is considered the minimum size needed for a car to park on the road and we are obliged to protect on street parking.
Applications will be refused where highway parking in the area is managed to the benefit of residents, e.g. permit parking area. This consideration will not apply if there is a general restriction on highway parking at the location of the proposed vehicular access (e.g. double yellow lines).
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E. Lay-bysAccesses in lay-bys will be refused except onto the splays (sides of the lay-by).
F. Accesses for Motorcycles or Mobility Scooters These will be refused unless, in the case of mobility scooters, such a refusal will render the property inaccessible (e.g. access is directly onto the carriageway, parking area, etc. with no intervening footway).
3. Planning or Other ConsentIn addition to permission from the Highway Authority, consent may also be required from your local planning authority (East Suffolk, West Suffolk, Mid Suffolk/Babergh, Ipswich Borough or the Broads Authority) if any of the following conditions apply:
If the proposed dropped kerb/vehicle access is on a classified road (A, B or C).
the property is a listed buildinghttps://www.suffolk.gov.uk/planning-waste-and-environment/buildings-in-suffolk/
the property is located within a conservation areahttps://www.suffolk.gov.uk/planning-waste-and-environment/buildings-in-suffolk/
it is proposed to construct an impermeable drive or hardstanding of more than 5 square metres within the front garden of a property https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/flooding-and-drainage/guidance-on-development-and-flood-risk/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7728/pavingfrontgardens.pdf
the access is to commercial premises. If it is, please contact the Development Management team [email protected]
There may be other situations which we haven’t listed which require permission and it is your responsibility to check and get permissions before applying to us.
4. Works affecting ditches and watercoursesAny existing ditch or watercourse at the site of the proposed vehicular access is there to allow for the flow, storage or soakage of water. It may not be filled in or piped without consulting with Suffolk County Council’s Flood and Water Management team.
If applicable, a copy of their approval to your proposals should accompany the application form.
Further information can be found on the Suffolk County Council website using the link https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/flooding-and-drainage/working-on-a-watercourse email [email protected]
5. Permission from freehold property ownerIf you are a tenant in the property for which you wish to make an application, the permission of the landlord must be obtained for parking a vehicle within the boundary of the property before applying to us.
The property owner must also sign the application form accepting the conditions of the application.
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If the property is a council owned property, owned by a housing trust or association, or is a former council owned property then permission will be required from them for a vehicular access since they may be the freehold owners of land affected by the proposed works. A copy of the permission must accompany your application form.
6. Design ConsiderationsStandard layout and construction details will be sent to you at the time that we grant permission for the vehicular access.
Loose bound surfaces (e.g. gravel) will not be permitted within 5 metres of the highway boundary.
If you have permission to extend an access, you must reconstruct the old part of footway to our construction specification as it may not have been built strong enough to take the weight and movement of vehicles.
The construction of the hard standing must not result in any change to the level of the adjacent highway, unless this has been agreed by the Highway Authority.
Dealing with Surface WaterSustainable drainage must be used to prevent water from spilling onto the highway.
Please be aware that construction of a vehicular access may result in highway surface water entering the access. Surface water run-off from the property on to the highway will not be permitted. In both cases, measures must be provided by the applicant to prevent this. The responsibility and cost of adequately dealing with the potential problem rests with you.
All new hard standings more than 5 square metres require planning consent and must be of permeable construction or have a method of dealing with surface water runoff to prevent any flow to the public drainage system. You should consult “Guidance on the permeable surfacing of front gardens”. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7728/pavingfrontgardens.pdf
If you intend to connect to the public sewer system, you will require permission from your local planning authority and possibly from Anglian Water.
Works affecting Trees on the highwayYour application will be refused if the proposed vehicular access requires the removal of a tree within the publicly maintained highway or works are planned within 1m of the trunk of a tree within the publicly maintained highway.
If any trees are likely to be affected by construction of the proposed vehicular access, you must ask the relevant District Council’s Arboricultural Officer to assess the impact on the tree/s. If applicable, a copy of their approval of your proposals must accompany the application form.More details on trees and hedge scan be found here: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/roads-pavements-and-verges/trees-grass-and-weeds/trees-and-hedges/
Sloping sitesIf there is a footway at the top or bottom it must have a gradient of less than 1 in 40. Any ramp to the road edge must be between 1 in 12 and 1 in 20 with maximum depth of 1.5m. Any slope between the ramp to road and footway edge or parking area if there is no
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footway, the slope must be as near as 1 in 40 as possible. We would expect you get plans drawn up showing evidence you have the required gradients before applying.
Please see diagram on page 7 for more information.
Works affecting utility apparatus and street furnitureApparatus (such as electricity and telegraph poles, water, gas mains and streetlights etc.) may be affected by the proposed works. It is a legal requirement that you or your contractor contacts the owner of the apparatus and/or street furniture, prior to work starting. If any apparatus is required to be moved or adjusted because of the work, this must be arranged, and costs met by you.
Responsibility for repairsYou should be aware that the cost of repairs to any damage caused to the highway because of construction of the vehicular access or any other building work will be your responsibility. If the Highway Authority considers the site to be unsafe it may make safe and repair any damage at your expense. Costs of repair to damages caused by a contractor will be recovered from you and you will need to make your own arrangements for recovering those costs from your contractor.
7. Phasing of the workIt is an OFFENCE to carry out works within the public highway, which includes a Public Right of Way, without the permission of the Highway Authority.
Once you have permission from us you are responsible for ensuring that your contractor is accredited in accordance with the requirements of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 to undertake work within a public highway and holds at least £5million public liability insurance.
You will also need to ensure that they apply to the Developer Noticing team at [email protected] prior to commencing any work, to arrange the booking of road space. Through this road space booking, the date/s when works are planned will be recorded. The area must be made available during these dates for possible inspection to ensure the crossing is constructed in accordance with Suffolk Highways’ specification and is in the approved location.
If it is found that the dropped kerbed access is different to that approved, you will be required to put it right. The alternative will be that Suffolk Highways will undertake the necessary work and charge you for this.
Construction must be completed within 2 years of the date on the approval letter.
8. Responsibility for the completed vehicular accessThe part of the vehicular access which has been constructed within the public highway will remain part of the adopted public highway and will be maintained in accordance with standards set out in our Highways Operational Maintenance Plan which can be found on the Suffolk County Council website at the link https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/highway-maintenance/highway-asset-management/highway-maintenance-operational-plan/
In the interests of road safety, vehicles must not park on the new vehicular access.
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9. Further InformationIf you have any further queries relating to this application, please contact Customer Services either by phoning 0345 6066171, emailing [email protected] or using the web chat facility online at https://www.suffolk.gov.uk
Supporting drawings/diagrams:
Requirement where there is a slope:1. Footway max gradient of 1 in 40. Min width 0.9 metres.2. Ramp to road edge gradient between 1 in 12 and 1 in 20. max width 1.5 metres.3. Water from front garden to be prevented from spilling over footway by use of sustainable
drainage.
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