Planning Issue Resolved With Driveway Turntable

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Apr 1, 2004

Planning permission has been granted to build a house on spare land at the back of an existing property by installing a DriveAway vehicle turntable supplied by British Turntable Co.

Property consultant, Nick Corke, has overcome difficulties in obtaining planning permission to build a house on spare land at the back of an existing property by installing a manually operated DriveAway vehicle turntable supplied by British Turntable Co.

So impressed is he with the turntable that he is now acting as sales agent for the company, working closely with land developers and planning authorities on British Turntable's behalf.

Nick Corke's building plot, at Fore Street in Framlingham, Suffolk, is situated on a main road and, without the turntable, vehicles accessing the property would have had to be driven of or onto the road in reverse gear - not an ideal situation.

Street parking was not an option.

Nick Corke explains: "I was originally refused planning permission for a 900 sq ft cottage at the site on highway grounds and two other minor problems; while these latter problems were overturned at appeal, the highway issue was not, and the Local Authority made it clear that we could not use all the garden for parking, either.

Given that planning policies encourage infill within villages rather than using greenfield land for residential development, this seemed a nonsense.

"Subsequently, I worked on the problem for more than a year with a highway consultant.

The obvious answer was to use a turntable, which would allow a car to enter the site in a forward gear and be turned round so that it could exit the drive in a forward direction as well.

After a couple of meetings with the highways department and the Local Authority, our solution was accepted on the grounds that the 'turntable arrangements would provide the necessary turning facilities and still allow sufficient space on site for the parking of two cars and a garden'.

They even went as far as to describe the proposition as 'innovative'.

I'm pleased to say that the property is now complete." Nick Corke's persistence in finding a solution to his problem has fuelled interest in the DriveAway by the planning and highway departments of the Local Authority as well as local developers, who are keen to see the turntable in operation.

Nick Corke explains further: "Local Authorities are being told they have got to get more houses on ever-decreasing amounts of land and at the same time leave enough space for a garden.

This balance is sometimes difficult to achieve, particularly where there are highway problems where vehicles must enter the highway in a forward gear for safety reasons.

The DriveAway solves this problem admirably; not only is it a great concept, it's very simple to install and isn't expensive." As it has a relatively low profile the DriveAway turntable can easily be flush-fitted into the driveway with the help of a builder.

Alternatively it can be self-installed on top of the driveway surface, and ramps are provided to allow the car to be driven on and off the turntable safely.

Once positioned on the DriveAway, the car can be pushed round, with minimal effort, to enable it to be driven off again in a forward gear.

Economically priced and robust enough to take the majority of family-sized vehicles, the DriveAway is smooth in operation, built to withstand inclement weather conditions and requires little maintenance.