Apply for a vehicular access
You can apply to the County Council for permission to have a vehicle crossing (usually a dropped kerb) installed on the road adjacent to your property. You can also apply for an existing vehicular access to be widened
- What is it for
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Approval is required to create or extend a vehicular access to a property (usually by lowering kerbs at the edge of a road.)
The process involves:
- In urban areas lowering of the kerbs at the edge of the road to allow access to the householder's property/driveway
- In more rural areas a section of soft verge may have to be removed and replaced to allow access to the householder's property/driveway
- Strengthening of the crossing from your property boundary to the edge of the road
- It may be necessary to move or protect street light columns, railings and bollards and any pipes or cables etc belonging to public utilities underneath the crossing
Approval from the council is not required for crossings on unadopted roads.
- Who can apply
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The property owner should apply. If you are a tenant you will need to contact your landlord or housing association for written permission.
- Before you apply
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To enable us to process your application quickly you will be asked to provide any information that supports your application. This might include:
- Photographs of the location
- Consent from property owner (if different from applicant)
- Proof of planning permission being granted. If you do not have the required planning permission in place your application will be refused. Refer to the pre-application checklist for more detail.
- Letter or e-mail from a utility company affected confirming they are happy to move / adjust their apparatus
- Roads listed A, B or C are classified roads. If access is taken from a classified road you will need planning permission. To check if your road is classified, see the maintained roads database.
Please review the Pre-application checklist to determine whether your property may be suitable for installing, or widening an access and to ensure you have all the supporting documentation required for an application.
- The approval process
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On receipt of your application and associated £159 fee, an engineer will visit the site to determine its suitability. Following this assessment we will write back to you with the outcome. This letter will consist of one of the following:
- site approval for your vehicle crossing works; this will be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of the letter
- rejection of your application and justification for this outcome
Should your application for a vehicle crossing be approved you will then be able to appoint your own contractor to carry out the works.
We aim to undertake a site approval inspection within six weeks of receiving your application.
- What happens after approval
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You will need to appoint a private contractor to do the works. Hampshire County Council does not hold a list of approved contractors, and we are unable to recommend any specific private companies to carry out the works. You may wish to use the Government’s Buy With Confidence website to find a suitable contractor.
The contractor you appoint must:
- hold £10m public liability insurance and indemnify both the applicant and Hampshire County Council on an appropriate certificate
- have operatives and supervisors who are trained and accredited to the requirements of the Codes of Practice under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991
- obtain a Section 171 Licence to excavate the highway. More information on this process can be found on our road opening licence webpage
- determine whether there is public utility apparatus that may need relocating or protecting. If this is the case the contractor should contact the relevant public utility company, or Scottish and Southern Energy where there are required changes to street lighting
Before your contractor starts work you should see evidence that they have an approved Section 171 Road Opening Licence. Work done under a Road Opening Licence is covered by the contractor for a maintenance period of 2 years.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your chosen contractor has received this approval. If your chosen contractor undertakes the works without a Section 171 Road Opening Licence, Hampshire County Council will not be able to provide you with the evidence of legality for your vehicle crossing.
- Charges
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Upon application you will be required to pay the below fee. Please have your payment details ready before submitting your application. Paying online will significantly speed up the application process as enquiries are not processed until payment has been received.
- £159
- non refundable application fee
If you would like to cancel your application after submission, you may not be entitled to a full refund if work has already commenced to process it.
You will receive an automated receipt when paying for this service. No VAT is charged as this is a non-business service and the VAT is classed as ‘out-of-scope’. However, should it be required for your records, Hampshire County Council’s VAT number is GB 189 4068 22.
- Construction specifications
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Your chosen contractor shall adhere to the Construction Specifications for dropped kerbs
- Planning permission
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It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the relevant planning permissions/ consents are in place before applying for a vehicle crossing.
We recommend that you contact your local planning authority if your property falls into any of the following planning permission categories:
- you are constructing a hard standing using traditional impermeable materials (e.g concrete, impermeable paving blokes, bituminous etc)
- you are within a conservation area
- your property is on a classified road (A, B or C are classified roads)
- your property is a listed building
- your property is a multi-occupancy dwelling such as flats or maisonettes
- if the proposed vehicle crossing is not for the purpose of giving access only to the curtilage of a domestic dwelling house
- if permitted development rights have been removed from your property by the Local Planning Authority (you may not have received notification of this directly from the Planning Authority so are advised to check)
If you are not sure if your property falls into the above categories, we recommend you contact your local planning authority to discuss further. The local planning authority may charge for this service.
It is important to note that the applicant is responsible for ensuring that the correct permissions are obtained prior to application. In the event of a vehicle access being installed that is subsequently found not to have the required permissions it is your responsibility for arranging and paying for it to be reinstated to match the original condition. Should this not occur, then the Highway Authority may undertake this work and recharge the costs to you.
- Apply
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If you’re happy and understand the conditions and charges