Vehicle Access Requests - "Dropped Kerbs"

Guidance Notes

Vehicle Crossovers are sections of pavement with a lowered kerb connecting a private driveway to the highway. The installation of crossovers is paid for by residents but all are maintained by the Council. They provide a designated area for homeowners to drive their cars legally over the footway to reach their driveway.

There is an initial fee of £20 for an inspector to assess whether an access will be allowed. This fee will be waived if the works are subject to Planning Permission.
You are required to contact your local District/Borough Council’s Planning Department to confirm whether Planning Permission is required. If Planning approval is necessary this will need to be acquired before submitting your vehicle access request.
There will be an additional fee of £45 to cover processing costs and subsequent site visits should you elect to employ your own contractor.

Stage 1

In some places, space or safety considerations or steep slopes will make it impossible to construct a driveway or parking space within a garden.

Information obtained at this stage should enable you to see whether it is viable to provide an access in your case. If it is not viable then there is little point in paying for the Council to do the survey as explained in Stage 2.

Vehicular Access – Pre Application Check List

If you answer yes to any of the questions below your application may well not be approved

Activity	Yes	No	Notes
Is the access requested onto a classified road (i.e. C road & above)			If yes, Planning permission will be required from your local District Council. Details of your local planning authority are available at www.leics.gov.uk/dropped_kerbs_planning
Has planning permission been refused for the access or the development			If yes this may be because the access arrangements were below standard required.
Is the area you propose to use for a parking space less than 5.5m long x 2.5m wide			The minimum parking space size required is 5.5m long x 2.5m wide.
Is the access within 15m of a junction			To avoid conflict with turning traffic at junction.
Is the access requested onto a corners (radii) of a junction			To avoid conflict with turning traffic at junction.
Is the access requested at a bus stop			To avoid conflict with traffic and pedestrians.
Is the access requested at a lay-by			To avoid conflict with parked traffic and visibility.
Is the access requested close to pedestrian or cycle refuge			To avoid conflict with traffic and pedestrians.
Is the access requested close to a traffic-calming feature			To avoid conflict with traffic and pedestrians.
Is the proposed access from a road with a speed limit above 40mph.			The forward visibility requirements for the access are of a much higher standard and a turning facility may well be required.
Have you less than 45 m clear visibility along the road from the proposed access			Minimum standard for a road with a speed limit of less than 30mph
Is the width of the footway / verge outside your property less than 2m			If less than 2.0m the forward visibility requirements for the access may be below the standard required
Is the drive gradient greater than 1:20 for first 5m			Vehicles may ground when using the access

NOTE: Parking space to be at 90 degrees to the carriageway - not parallel to the property.

This is not an exhaustive list there may be other things that may warrant refusal of access.

More information on the requirements for vehicular access can be found within the Highways, Transportation and Development the Leicestershire Guide at the following web address: www.leics.gov.uk/htd

Stage2

Complete the PDF application form, (see the link below in Stage 4) and return it with your £20 cheque made payable to Leicestershire County Council to:

Customer Service Centre
Highways and Streetlighting
Leicestershire County Council
County Hall
Glenfield
Leicester
LE3 8ST

Email: customerservices@leics.gov.uk
Phone: 0116 305 0001
Fax: 0116 305 0006
Minicom: 0116 305 0007

Stage 3

An inspector will visit the site and undertake a technical assessment. If they approve the application, a quotation will be sent to you along with the relevant forms. You will have two options at this stage:

you can accept our quotation, by signing and returning form A and returning it to the Highway Manager with a cheque for the amount specified, or
you can choose to use your own contractor, but will need to supply the information requested on V.A.1 (Aug 06) and return this to the Highway Manager with a cheque for £45. This covers the cost of processing the permit for your contractor to work in the highway and subsequent site visits.

Stage 4

If Leicestershire Highways undertake the work on your behalf, the work would normally be completed within four weeks of receipt of your cheque.

If you have chosen your own contractor, the paperwork will be validated, and if all the criteria are met a permit will be issued.

Upon completion of the works an inspector will visit the site to ensure that the specified standards have been met.

The information on this page, guidance notes, Pre Application Check List and Vehicle Access Request Form is available as a PDF file for you to print out, fill in and return to us by post. See the Vehicle Access Information Pack (PDF, file size 44 kb).

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