Dropped kerbs on a classified road and why PD fails

Dropped kerb classified road permission is needed because the permitted development right for forming an access does not extend to classified roads. The access class in Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits the formation of a means of access to a highway that is not a trunk road or a classified road, and only where that access is required in connection with development permitted elsewhere in the Order. Two filters, and a dropped kerb onto an A, B or C road fails the first of them.

That produces two separate applications: a planning application to the local planning authority for the access, and a vehicle crossing application to the highway authority for the work in the highway. Neither substitutes for the other, and people routinely discover the second one after the first is granted.

Which roads count as classified

A, B and C roads are all classified, under the classification powers in the Highways Act 1980. A and B roads announce themselves on signs and maps. C roads do not.

That is the trap. A quiet residential street with no through traffic can be a classified C road, and nothing about its appearance tells you. Unclassified roads are the residual category, and a surprising proportion of suburban streets sit in the classified group because of an historic numbering decision nobody has revisited.

So do not judge it by eye, by the road's width, or by whether it has a centre line.

Why the access right excludes classified roads

The exclusion is about traffic speed and flow. An access onto a road carrying through traffic introduces a conflict that the Order's drafters were not prepared to permit without case-by-case assessment, because the consequences of a badly designed access vary enormously with what is passing.

There is a second limb worth understanding. Even on an unclassified road, the access class only permits an access required in connection with development permitted by another class, such as a hard surface formed under the hard surfacing class. A standalone dropped kerb serving an existing drive on an unclassified road is not automatically covered, which is a point most summaries of the rule miss. The interaction between the two is set out in dropped kerbs and access under Part 2 Class B.

Article 4 directions can remove the hard surfacing right as well, which is common in conservation areas and in the suburbs of historic towns, so check the authority's constraint mapping before assuming anything.

Finding the classification for your road

Ask the local highway authority. That is the county council in a two-tier area and the unitary or borough council elsewhere, and it holds the list of streets with each road's classification and its highway extent.

Many authorities publish the list of streets online or respond to a short email enquiry within a few days. Some publish classification on a mapping portal. The national road network data published by the transport department covers A roads and motorways reliably and is less useful for C roads.

Get the answer in writing and keep it. A written confirmation that the road is unclassified is the document that supports a later certificate of lawfulness, and a written confirmation that it is classified saves you from building an access you then have to remove.

The planning application the exclusion requires

A householder planning application for the formation of a vehicular access. Eight weeks for determination, a fee, and a description that covers the access and the hard surfacing together if both are proposed.

What the authority will assess:

• highway safety, principally visibility in both directions and intervisibility between emerging drivers and pedestrians
• gradient across the footway and into the plot
• whether a vehicle can stand clear of the footway, which normally means a parking depth of at least 4.8 metres measured back from the back of footway
• loss of on-street parking, which on a street with parking pressure is a real objection
• loss of highway verge, street trees or boundary wall, particularly where the wall contributes to the character of a conservation area
• surface water drainage, so that runoff does not discharge onto the highway
• whether vehicles can leave in forward gear, which on a busier classified road the highway authority may insist on

A Planning Statement addressing each of those in turn, with the drawings to match, converts a marginal application into a straightforward one. Officers refuse these on highway safety and on loss of on-street parking, so deal with both rather than hoping neither comes up.

Visibility, gradient and the highway standards

Visibility is assessed as a splay: a set-back from the carriageway edge, commonly 2.4 metres, and a distance along the carriageway in each direction taken from stopping sight distance for the actual vehicle speeds. On a 30 mph urban road the published stopping sight distance figure in the national street design guidance is 43 metres, and the highway authority's own design guide will state what it applies locally.

Pedestrian visibility is separate and often overlooked. Authorities commonly require a smaller splay either side of the access, measured from the back of footway, kept clear of walls, hedges and gate piers above a low height so a driver crossing the footway can see a child approaching.

Gradient matters more than people expect. The crossing has to run from carriageway level up over the footway without a step, and the first few metres inside the plot need to be shallow enough that a car does not ground. A steep front garden is the most common reason a technically acceptable access cannot be built.

Width is set by the authority's standard for a domestic crossing, with the dropped kerb length including tapers at each end. Show the taper on the drawing.

The separate highway crossing application

The work in the highway itself, lowering the kerb and reconstructing the footway, is authorised under section 184 of the Highways Act 1980, not by your planning permission.

The highway authority will require the works to be carried out either by its own contractor or by a contractor approved and supervised by it, and it charges for the works and for inspection. It can refuse, and it can refuse on grounds the planning authority never considered, such as the position of a gully, a street lighting column, a bus stop cage, a utility chamber or a pedestrian crossing.

Two consequences. Planning permission does not entitle you to break into the footway, and a contractor who does so without a section 184 approval is working in the highway unlawfully. And the cost of the crossing is a highway authority cost, set by its own schedule and usually payable before the works are programmed.

Street trees are the issue that most often stops a crossing after planning permission is granted. A tree in the verge belongs to the highway authority, its removal is a highway authority decision, and the answer is frequently no.

What to submit so both run in parallel

Submit the two applications together and tell each body about the other.

For the planning application: a location plan at a standard scale, an existing site plan, a proposed site plan showing the access, the crossing width with tapers, the parking space dimensioned, and the retained boundary treatment. Then a section through the footway and the first few metres of the drive showing levels and gradient, a visibility splay drawing with the dimensions and the speed basis annotated, and a drainage detail showing a channel or linear drain across the entrance with the surfacing specification.

Surfacing is where the two regimes interact. The hard surfacing class requires a front garden surface above a small area to be permeable, or to drain to a permeable area within the curtilage, and the highway authority separately requires that no water reaches the carriageway. A permeable block paved drive with a linear drain at the back of footway satisfies both, and the detail belongs on the drawing. The condition behind that requirement is explained in the drainage condition attached to Class F hard surfaces.

For the crossing application: the authority's own form, the approved or proposed plans, and the fee. Ask for a pre-application site visit from the highway inspector if the authority offers one, because a ten minute conversation about a gully position saves a redesign.

Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which documents an access application is likely to need.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority and local highway authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.