Driveways for Hull’s flat, low-lying ground

Hull is flat, low and close to the water table, and in 2007 thousands of homes flooded when heavy rain had nowhere to go. That shapes how we build here. A driveway in Hull has to deal with every drop of rain that falls on it, either by letting it soak through or by sending it somewhere it can drain, because there’s no slope to carry it away.

Permeable construction is often the answer. Permeable block paving in Hull lets rain pass through the joints into an open-graded stone sub-base, which stores it and lets it drain away slowly. A resin bound driveway on a porous base does the same with a smooth, gravel-look finish. On Hull’s clay a soakaway can fill up and stay full in winter, so we test the ground before relying on one and, where needed, size the sub-base to hold water until it can drain.

The housing is classic Hull: long terraces with small forecourts, the tree-lined Avenues and Newland Park, the conservation area at Garden Village, and big post-war estates to the north and east. Many terraces have a tenfoot running behind them, which can be the easiest way to get materials in. A small walled forecourt is rarely deep enough to park in, but it makes a neat, low-maintenance front garden in block or resin. West of the city, Hessle, Anlaby, Kirk Ella, Willerby and Cottingham have larger detached homes with long front drives.

Inside the city boundary, Hull City Council deals with dropped kerbs and planning. Many places with HU postcodes, including Hessle, Cottingham, Anlaby, Willerby, Kirk Ella and Hedon, are in the East Riding, so those applications go to East Riding of Yorkshire Council instead. We cover the coast out to Hornsea and Withernsea too. Our guide to planning permission and SuDS covers the front-garden rule in more detail, and Hull is part of our wider East Yorkshire area.