Resin Driveways in Chelmsford, Essex

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, and its housing stock is unusually varied for a single city — Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Moulsham Street and New London Road, inter-war semis out towards Springfield and Great Baddow, and large modern estates at Beaulieu Park and Channels. Each of those brings a different driveway problem, and the rules you have to work within are not the same across the whole city.

This page covers what actually applies in Chelmsford: the planning position on permeable surfacing, the Essex County Council dropped kerb criteria that catch a lot of people out, and which parts of the district sit inside a conservation area.

This is where Chelmsford projects most often stall. A dropped kerb (a vehicle crossing) is not handled by Chelmsford City Council. Essex County Council is the highway authority, so the crossing application goes to them. You then also need planning permission from Chelmsford City Council if the access is on a classified road, or if it is not tied to other permitted development work.

Essex County Council's criteria are specific, and worth checking before you commit to anything:

• Your frontage must be at least 5 metres deep, measured at right angles to the road, by 2.5 metres wide. Essex will not allow a vehicle crossing where the parking space is shallower than 5 metres — this is a hard refusal, and it rules out a lot of smaller Chelmsford frontages.
• A single-property crossing is normally 4 to 5 dropped kerb lengths (3.6m to 4.5m) plus two ramp kerbs (1.8m).
• A crossing shared with a neighbour runs to 7.2m to 9.0m in total, with 4 to 5 dropped kerb lengths in front of each property.
• Wanting a second crossing on an unclassified road? There must be 5 metres of full-height kerb left between the two.
• Essex will refuse where there is inadequate visibility, or where the crossing would affect a bus stop, pedestrian crossing or disabled parking bay, require the removal of a mature tree, cross a large verge, or sit in a lay-by.

We will tell you honestly at the survey whether your frontage meets the 5 metre depth rule before you spend anything on an application.

Much of Chelmsford sits on heavy Essex clay, which holds water rather than letting it away. On an impermeable driveway that shows up as standing water, moss in the joints and surface movement over a wet winter. The city also sits at the confluence of the River Chelmer and the River Can, so surface water handling matters more here than in a lot of Essex.

A properly built resin bound driveway is permeable through the full build-up, not just the top layer — the sub-base has to be right or the permeability is wasted. That is the part we spend the most time on at survey, and it is the difference between a driveway that keeps draining and one that starts ponding after a couple of wet winters.

We are based in Billericay, about twenty minutes from Chelmsford, and cover the whole city and its surrounding villages. Call 01277 885758 for a free, no-obligation survey. We will measure up, check your frontage against the Essex crossing criteria if you need a dropped kerb, and give you a fixed written quote. The rules change across the county, so if you are comparing areas our guide to driveway planning permission in Essex sets out each council side by side.