Driveway crossings in Newcastle
City of Newcastle calls it a Section 138 (Type 1) application: the approval for a driveway crossing, with or without a road opening permit, on the strip of public land between the kerb and your boundary. Council’s own post approval guidance says a Section 138 application should be lodged as soon as practical once development consent is in hand, because construction cannot start on the footway without it. Building, removing and modifying a driveway that connects to a public road are all covered, so a replacement or a widening needs the approval just as a first driveway does.
What gets built is set by council’s standard drawing A1300, Driveway Crossing Standard Design Details. For a house, the drawing gives a single crossing of 2.5 to 3.0 metres and a double of 2.5 to 4.5 metres, a minimum 100 mm slab with SL72 mesh in the top with 40 mm cover, 25 MPa concrete, joints no more than 3 metres apart, and a crossing square to the kerb line. It keeps the edge of the crossing at least 750 mm from a power pole, 1 metre from a kerb inlet pit and 3 metres from a street tree trunk, and it holds a 1.2 metre strip at a 1 in 40 grade for a footpath even where no footpath exists yet.
Finish is where Newcastle owners get caught. The drawing specifies plain concrete with a broom finish and bevelled edges. Coloured or patterned concrete, exposed aggregate and stencilling may be considered by council, while stamped concrete, asphaltic concrete and sealer are not permitted on the crossing. An exposed aggregate driveway can still run to the boundary; the crossing in front of it is council’s call.
Council’s approval letter governs over the drawing, and it sets out the inspection that has to be booked before concrete is placed. Newcastle does not publish a fee or a turnaround on the pages we could verify, so none is quoted here: ring council on 02 4974 2000 for the current figure. The Section 138 guide walks the whole process through.