2025 House and Driveway vehicle access across verge
Dual occupancy dwellings with driveway to street kerb

A driveway is a path for vehicles that connects a property to a nearby road or street, often crossing over a verge, nature strip or footpath. In most cases the driveway is formed from the kerb or edge of the carriageway to the property boundary.

Under the Roads Act 1993, you need to submit an application and get our consent for any change to a footpath/gutter crossing or point of vehicle access to a property.

New driveways or changes to existing driveways

When we assess your driveway application, we are looking to:

  • ensure the driveway is located for the safest entry and exit to the road
  • minimise the risk of damage to standard cars using the driveway (such as scraping)
  • make sure that the Council footpath and verge area is not a hazard to members of the public by making sure that it is not too uneven or too steep
  • manage stormwater on the road by designing/planning levels that minimise water entering private property from the street via the driveway
  • ensure the safe movement of pedestrians using the road and footpath
  • maximise the availability of on-street parking
  • avoid conflict with existing infrastructures, such as signs, poles, drains in the kerb, street trees and other road features such as roundabouts, medians etc.

Driveways are to be designed in accordance with AS2890.1 and Sutherland Shire Councils Development Control Plan.

Choose the application below based on your property type. Each application requires you to provide a site plan and pay a fee. Your site plan and driveway need to be designed in accordance with AS2890.1 and our latest Development Control Plan (section XX).

Once you apply, it takes about 3-4 weeks to go through the application process and receive/finalise your driveway profile and approval.

Ready to apply? Choose one of the options below and complete the form

Frequently asked questions about constructing driveways

Yes - an appliication is required to ensure that work in our footpath verge complies with the relevant standards and Council's policies. It's also to ensure the safety of all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, is protected both during and after construction.

  • If you construct a driveway without a Council-approved design, you may receive an infringement notice. In some cases, the work may need to be demolished and reconstructed at your cost.
  • Where someone fails to take action to demolish an unauthorised vehicular crossing, our staff may reconstruct the unauthorised vehicular crossing to our standards and specifications and will recover all costs through legal process.

The owner of a property is responsible for the costs relating to installing and maintaining a driveway crossing, under the Roads Act 1993.

Only Council-approved Authorised Driveway Contractors may construct vehicle crossings and undertake associated works. No one else is permitted to carry out excavation or any other part of this work.

  • Only concreters we have already approved can be used to undertake works on our Road Reserves. We have an approved list of authorised concrete vehicular contractors who can build your driveway.
  • If you want to use a contractor not on the list, the contractor will need to apply to be placed on the list by completing the on-line form, Authorised Vehicle Crossing Contractor Form, and submitting the required attachments.
  • Please note we are not recommending the companies listed.

We will assess all applications for a second driveway - it will only be considered if the applicant's property has a frontage greater than 20m in width, and the proposed spacing between driveways is greater than 6m.
Applications for a second driveway will need to provide a scaled drawing of the property frontage and meet our current Landscaping Ratio control for the front set back area for the resulting private property hardstand area proposed in conjunction with the second driveway works.

To arrange a driveway inspection, phone us (Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 4.30pm on 02 9710 0538 or 9710 0333) - 48 hours before the inspection is required.
Generally, your Council-approved Authorised Driveway Contractor arranges the formwork and final driveway inspections.

Where two or more properties share an accessway it is still the owners’ responsibility to construct the accessway.
A minimum standard of 200mm crushed road base material must be used. Ideally a concrete surface would be constructed to minimize maintenance cost and works.
We will take over maintenance of a shared accessway only after it has been constructed.

  • An approval to construct a vehicle crossing on our footpath is required under Section 138 of the Road Act 1993.
  • If you want to re-instate your vehicle crossing, submit an application form - either a Driveway Application for single dwellings or a Driveway Application for Multiple Dwellings including Dual Occupancies form (see links above). Our inspectors will then provide new boundary levels.
  • To make changes to your vehicle access, for example you wish to change the location of the vehicular crossing, you need to give a sketch of your proposed driveway location indicating approximate side boundary locations and street frontage, if on a corner property.
  • For more information regarding these issues, contact customer service on 9710 0333. If a development application is required, an application for street levels must made prior to the issue of any Construction Certificate.

The standard width for driveways is 3.5 metres.

If a driveway is for a corner block, it should begin at least 6 metres from the corner. The 6 metres is measured from the tangent point (corner arm) of the kerb.

If your residence is on a right-of-way access, you don't need to contact us for approval or levels as they will have been approved in the creation of the access roadway.

However as a guide, a single residential vehicular crossings should be constructed as a minimum of 100mm thick, 32 MPa concrete and a SL72 mesh on a 50mm thick sand with a compacted base.

Complete our Authorised Vehicle Crossing Contractor Form, and supply the required documentation.