Driveways in Shirley

About Shirley

The bay-fronted and half-timbered semis built through the 1920s and 1930s dominate, with narrow plots, short frontages and, on a good number of pairs, a shared drive down the middle. Shared access changes how we work: levels and the joint line get agreed with the neighbour first, and we keep at least one side usable so nobody is left without a space. The older streets around Haslucks Green have slightly deeper plots than the ones packed in close to the Stratford Road. Old crossovers here are often too narrow for a modern car, so a dropped kerb application to the council goes in alongside the driveway work.

Weather and drainage

Paving a front garden is where the rules bite. In England you need planning permission for more than five square metres of impermeable surfacing at the front if the water drains onto the road, so we either lay a permeable surface such as block paving or resin bound gravel, or run the fall back to a border or soakaway on your own land. On a road as busy as this one, keeping winter rain off the pavement is worth having for its own sake.

Shirley postcodes we cover

B90.

Planning and dropped kerbs in Shirley

Permission is only needed for a new front driveway over five square metres that uses a hard, non-permeable surface and drains onto the road. Choose a permeable finish, or send the water to a border, and no permission is needed at any size. A new vehicle crossing over the footpath is a separate application to Solihull council, and it takes weeks rather than days, so start it early. More detail is in our guide to driveway planning permission.

What we lay in Shirley

• Resin Bound Driveways
• Block Paving
• Tarmac Driveways
• Patios and Paths