Vehicle crossovers: the application and the specification

A dropped kerb application is made to the highway authority, not to the planning department, and on most unclassified residential streets that is the only consent you need. The confusion arises because two or three separate permissions can apply to the same driveway: the vehicle crossing itself under the Highways Act 1980, planning permission for the access where the road is classified, and planning permission for the hard surface if it is impermeable and drains to the road.

Get the sequence wrong and you can end up with a lawful driveway and no way to drive onto it.

When planning permission is needed as well

Forming a means of access to a highway is permitted development under the General Permitted Development Order 2015 where it is needed in connection with other permitted development, but that right does not apply where the highway is a trunk road or a classified road. Classified means an A, B or C road. So a crossover onto an unnumbered residential street is normally outside planning control, and the same crossover onto a B road needs a planning application.

The hard surface is a separate question. Laying a driveway within the curtilage of a house is permitted development, but government guidance treats an impermeable surface of more than five square metres between the principal elevation and the highway as needing permission unless surface water is directed to a permeable area within the curtilage. Gravel, permeable block paving, a porous asphalt, or a channel discharging to a lawn or border all keep you inside the right.

Then there is the front boundary. Removing or lowering a wall, fence or hedge next to a highway is permitted development up to one metre in height, and in a conservation area or on a listed property the position can be different again. If the wall is part of the listing, taking it down without listed building consent is an offence rather than a planning breach.

A Lawful Development Certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful. Where the position is finely balanced, particularly on an impermeable surface or a boundary wall in a conservation area, an application under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 removes the doubt.

Applying to the highway authority

The application is made under section 184 of the Highways Act 1980 to the county council, unitary authority or London borough acting as local highway authority. Most publish an online form, a plan requirement and a fee for the initial assessment.

What they want with the application:

• A location plan and a sketch showing the proposed crossing width, the position relative to the property boundaries and the depth of the parking area behind the footway.
• Photographs of the frontage showing existing kerb line, footway width, street furniture and any trees.
• Confirmation of who owns the frontage, and where the property is leasehold, evidence of the freeholder's consent.
• Details of any planning permission already granted, or a statement that none is needed.

The assessment is a site visit by a highways officer. Approval is a technical decision against the authority's own standards, and there is no appeal to the Planning Inspectorate against a refusal. That is the part householders find hardest: the only routes are a revised design or a complaint through the authority's own procedure.

Construction standard and who does the work

The crossing is part of the public highway, so the authority controls how it is built. Most authorities either carry out the work themselves through their term contractor or allow an approved contractor from a published list to do it under a permit, with the authority inspecting. A private builder cannot simply lower the kerbs.

The specification usually covers a reinforced concrete or bound sub-base under the crossing, dropped kerbs with transition kerbs at each end, tactile paving where the footway crossing meets a route used by pedestrians, and reinstatement of the footway surface to match. Where a verge is crossed, the whole width is normally constructed to a vehicular standard rather than left as grass.

Costs are set by each authority and published. They vary by crossing width, whether a verge is involved and whether statutory undertakers' apparatus has to be moved, so ask for a written quotation rather than working from a neighbour's invoice from five years ago. Larger accesses formed as part of a development permission follow a different route entirely, through the agreements described in the note on section 278 works that follow a permission.

Depth, gradient and visibility

Three dimensions decide most applications.

The depth of the parking area behind the footway has to be enough for a car to stand clear of the highway. Authorities commonly work to a minimum parking bay of about 4.8 metres by 2.4 metres, measured from the back of the footway, and a shallow forecourt on a Victorian terrace often fails on this alone. A car overhanging the footway is an obstruction, so a driveway that cannot contain a vehicle will not be approved.

Gradient matters because a steep rise off the footway grounds vehicles and pushes surface water back onto the highway. Authorities set a maximum fall or rise over the first few metres and will want a level or gently graded threshold immediately behind the crossing.

Visibility is assessed in both directions along the carriageway from a point set back behind the footway. On a bend, near a crest or close to a junction the splay may not be achievable at all.

Trees, gullies, signs and street furniture

A crossover cannot be built through a gully, a lamp column, a telecoms cabinet, a parking meter, a bus stop cage, a pedestrian guardrail or a street tree. Moving each of those is possible in principle and paid for by the applicant, and the timescales differ wildly: a gully relocation is straightforward, while a statutory undertaker's diversion can take months.

Street trees are the hardest case. A tree in the verge or footway usually belongs to the highway authority, its removal is a decision for that authority under highways legislation rather than through tree preservation control, and many authorities operate a presumption against removing a healthy street tree to create a private access. Where a crossing is permitted near a tree, expect conditions on the construction method inside the root protection area and a requirement for a tree survey prepared to BS 5837:2012 by an arboriculturist.

Classified roads and the extra tests

Where planning permission is needed because the road is classified, the application is judged on highway safety in the usual way. The authority will look at the accident record, the speed of traffic, whether the frontage allows a vehicle to enter and leave in forward gear, and whether the access conflicts with a cycle lane or bus route.

On a busy classified road, being asked to turn within the site rather than reverse onto the carriageway is common, which needs more depth than a simple parking bay. A Planning Statement that sets out the visibility achieved, the turning provision and the relevant local plan policy is worth more than a bare form, even on a small householder application.

Electric vehicle charging is worth planning into the same job while the surface is open, and the note on charging provision in new residential development sets out what is expected now.

Why crossovers get refused

The recurring reasons are the same across authorities: not enough depth to stand a car clear of the footway, inadequate visibility, proximity to a junction or crossing, conflict with a bus stop or loading restriction, loss of on street parking that the authority is unwilling to give up, an immovable street tree, and a gradient that cannot be resolved. Refusal for loss of an on street space is more common than people expect in controlled parking zones.

Two practical habits help. Ask the highway authority for an informal view before you commission drawings, because an officer will often say on the phone that a frontage is too shallow. And if the answer is no, ask which dimension failed, because a 300 millimetre change in the position of the crossing sometimes fixes it.

Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your driveway or access project is likely to need.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning 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.