Dropping a kerb is essential to do if you plan to create off street parking in the form of a driveway that will be accessible only via crossing the pavement. Rather than damaging the kerb, pavement and any facilities that are located within it, dropping a kerb allows the council to grant you permission to lower the kerb and pavement into a ramp, rendering the path much easier to use to access your drive.
To have this done, there are a few details that need to first be understood. For example, a dropped kerb is subject to multiple regulations before it can be done. It needs to have planning permission in almost all instances, and you’ll also need a special crossing licence to be granted in order to legally use it.
There’s of course even more to this still, but we will walk you through the entire process here.
Planning Permission for a Drop Kerb
Planning permission is likely the main place to begin your journey. Any kerb being dropped that is on an A, B or C road will need road permission and planning permission from your local authority in order to be carried out. That means you’ll need to submit a planning application or have a planning professional or architect do so on your behalf, including block drawing and ordnance survey.
For the most part, unless in a conservation area or working on a listing building, the planning process is relatively straightforward. As long as there are adequate drawings and measurements and the proposed work will be satisfactory with enough depth for a standard car (4-5 metres typically), planning permission shouldn’t be much of an issue.
The only other main factors that may stand in your way are if the drop kerb will be unsafe for either the user or the public on the footpath. Blocked or restricted vision from bends in the road or even trees or plants are the normal causes, but there is a huge list of reasons that can be used. Signposts, lampposts, and even space to turn around to avoid having to reverse onto a major road are also big players.
Who Can Do the Work?
When it comes to actually dropping the kerb itself, most authorities will insist that only approved contractors are able to do the work. That is because they have approved systems in place for the council to be able to work with them, as well as having the correct level of insurance that the council deems necessary.
There is likely a very long list of approved contractors that you are able to work with, so you should still be able to get multiple quotes for the project as a whole and not have the limit the number of possible people that you have available to work with.
Dropped Kerb Costs
The costs of dropping a kerb vary from council to council and from town to town. Of course, architects or planning consultants are also able to set their own pricing unregulated by the local authority, just like builders and contractors are too, so there are a number of variables in getting an overall budget.
From our decades of experience in the architectural profession, the numbers that we usually expect to see for the costs of dropping a kerb are as follows:
Planning Process
Architect/Consultant – £500-£1000
Application Fee – £50-£250
Build Process
Site Safety Assessment – £200-£500
Dropping the Kerb – £1000-£2500
Who Owns the Dropped Kerb?
No matter what work is done to the kerb, the council remains the owner of the footpath at all times. You have received a licence to use it and permission to do the work, but at no point does that means that you are buying the area of the pavement at all It is firmly still public-owned footpath and that is not likely to change at any point.
Widening an existing Dropped Kerb
If you want to widen a dropped kerb, either existing or proposed, you’ll need to head back to the local planning and road authorities to check if they approve of the work. If they deem it unnecessary, then they will likely refuse it.
At the same time, if they deem it too dangerous or adding unnecessary risks to the user or to the public, again, they will likely reject the increase too.
Summary
Overall, dropping a kerb is not a complex process. The only possible issue is from the council, but by using professional services to draw and submit yo0ur planning application, you give yourself the best possible chance of success and minimise the chances of rejection on any ground.
Many professionals will even be happy to appeal for you should rejections ever occur, and with good relationships with many of the councils, professionals like architects will often vastly increase your chances of the green light. For the sake a few hundred pounds, it is well worth the investment.
