Can I create a new access onto a narrow lane?

Often, provided adequate visibility can be achieved within land you control and the access is constructed to the required standard. Where visibility cannot be achieved, the application is very difficult to support.

How much parking do I need to show?

It follows local standards and the size of the dwelling, and demonstrating turning is frequently as important as the number of spaces.

Will I have to remove a Cornish hedge?

Sometimes, and it should be avoided where possible because hedges carry landscape and habitat value. Repositioning the access is often a better answer than removing more hedge.

Do highways comments carry much weight?

Considerable weight. A highways objection on safety grounds is one of the harder objections to overcome at appeal.

Highways · Cornwall

Access and highways in Cornwall, the consultee comment that quietly decides applications

Applicants worry about the design and the neighbours. A surprising share of Cornish refusals and delays actually come from highways: a new access onto a lane with no visibility, parking that does not meet the standard, or a turning area that a refuse vehicle cannot use. These are solvable problems, but only if they are solved on the site plan before submission rather than argued about afterwards.

Book a free consultation See built work

Free · No obligation

Ask us about your project

A free first conversation — no obligation, no sales calls.

Visibility splays

A new or altered access has to allow a driver to see, and be seen, for a distance related to the speed of the road. On a narrow Cornish lane bounded by a high Cornish hedge, that requirement frequently means removing or setting back a length of hedge, which then raises landscape and ecology questions of its own. Establishing what splay is required, and whether you have the land and the consent to deliver it, is a first week question.

Splay dimensions relate to actual vehicle speeds rather than the posted limit alone
The land within the splay usually needs to be within your control
Cornish hedge removal has landscape and habitat implications, so design to avoid it where possible
Existing accesses in long standing use are treated more sympathetically than new ones

Parking and turning

Parking provision is assessed against local standards and against the realistic behaviour of the household. On a site where reversing onto a busy or blind road would be required, in curtilage turning becomes essential rather than desirable. Show the parking bays, the turning movement and the surface treatment on the site plan, because a plan that demonstrates it is much harder to object to than a statement that asserts it.

Construction access

The lane that serves the finished house also has to serve the build. Where access is genuinely tight, expect conditions about construction management, wheel washing, delivery timing and where operatives park. Thinking about it during design lets you propose a sensible arrangement rather than accept an imposed one, and it gives the eventual contractor realistic information to price against.

Drainage at the access

A new driveway is new impermeable area, and highways will not accept water running from your site onto the public road. Permeable surfacing, a channel drain and a soakaway sized for the area all address it, and all three belong on the drawing. This overlaps directly with the wider surface water strategy for the site.

Frequently asked

Straight answers.

Can I create a new access onto a narrow lane?: Often, provided adequate visibility can be achieved within land you control and the access is constructed to the required standard. Where visibility cannot be achieved, the application is very difficult to support.
How much parking do I need to show?: It follows local standards and the size of the dwelling, and demonstrating turning is frequently as important as the number of spaces.
Will I have to remove a Cornish hedge?: Sometimes, and it should be avoided where possible because hedges carry landscape and habitat value. Repositioning the access is often a better answer than removing more hedge.
Do highways comments carry much weight?: Considerable weight. A highways objection on safety grounds is one of the harder objections to overcome at appeal.

Access looking tight on your site?

Send us the address and we will tell you what visibility and turning the application will have to demonstrate.

Free · No obligation

Book your free consultation

Tell us about your project — we usually reply within 2 hours (working day).