Concreters in Adamstown, 2289
Adamstown takes its name from Thomas Adam, who bought 54 acres of Crown land in 1869 meaning to cut it into small, affordable allotments. By 1881 it was a village of about 400, mainly coal miners and their families. Six kilometres west south west of the Newcastle CBD, the suburb is organised around Brunker Road, which carries the shops between Glebe Road and Lockyer Street, with the railway station on Park Avenue and the start of the Fernleigh Track to Belmont beside it. Roughly two in three dwellings are separate houses and the rest are townhouses, semis and flats, a share set to rise, since council’s renewal corridor plans allow for about 700 more dwellings along Brunker and Glebe roads.
Ridge, clay and channels
Brunker Road follows a ridgeline, so blocks fall away on either side of it towards flatter ground drained by concrete stormwater channels, one of which council names the Adamstown Branch. Water ran through those channels in the June 2007 storm fast enough to dislodge some of their concrete panels. Council’s history also records a thick layer of brick-making clay under this part of the city, which is a reason to take subgrade preparation and jointing seriously. The Newcastle Mine Subsidence District takes in the southern and eastern sides of Adamstown, while a substantial northern part, on the low ground towards the railway and Broadmeadow, appears to sit outside it, so each address needs its own check on the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer.
Lanes, infill and older streets
Council’s corridor controls steer vehicle access away from Brunker and Glebe roads and onto side streets and rear laneways. Lane work follows from that: a garage slab at the back of the block, the apron that joins it to the lane and a short hardstand beside it. Infill sites bring shared driveways, visitor bays and courtyard patios. In the older streets the job is removal and replacement of short, narrow driveways and of front paths that have been patched more than once.
Working surfaces and street fronts
Lane aprons and shared driveways are working surfaces, and a broom finish in plain grey is the honest choice for them. At the street front, exposed aggregate gives an older cottage a finished look, and a coloured mix can tie a new townhouse courtyard to the rest of its landscaping. Where paired dwellings share one opening, council’s drawing allows a double residential crossing of 2.5 to 4.5 metres.
Adamstown price guide
Here is what to budget per m², supplied and laid. The lane staple, a garage or shed slab, falls in a band of $110 to $150. A concrete driveway is $95 to $185 across plain, coloured and exposed finishes, with exposed aggregate itself at $130 to $185. Paths come in at $90 to $130 and patios and alfresco areas at $100 to $180, and about $35 is added where existing concrete has to come out first. Lane access is the Adamstown variable: a narrow lane can rule out a full size truck, which means smaller loads or a pump. The calculator gives a first figure, the cost guide explains it, and the Section 138 guide and the specification tell you what a sound quote should say.
Council and the crossing
Adamstown sits in the City of Newcastle area. What that council asks of a driveway crossing is set out on the areas page and, step by step, in the Section 138 guide.
Nearby: Kotara, New Lambton, Merewether, Charlestown