Concrete driveways, Newcastle

Concrete driveways in Adamstown

A miners' village on the Brunker Road ridge, where narrow old lots take short replacement driveways and council steers new homes to the side streets and the rear lanes.

Driveways in Adamstown, 2289

Adamstown lies 6 km west south west of the Newcastle CBD and 5 km north east of Charlestown, with Brunker Road as its main street along the ridgeline and Glebe Road carrying the through traffic past the 1887 station and the Fernleigh Track. Thomas Adam bought 54 acres in 1869 to cut into small, affordable allotments, and by 1881 the village held about 400 people, mainly coal miners and their families. Those small allotments still shape the work. Two thirds of the dwellings are separate houses, many on short, narrow lots, so the ordinary job is a short replacement driveway sized for a modern car. The other stream is new. Council’s renewal corridor along Brunker Road and part of Glebe Road is planned for around 700 more dwellings, with vehicle access from side streets and rear laneways rather than the main roads, which means lane aprons and shared driveways on tight infill sites.

Clay on the ridge, channels on the flats

The thick bed of brick clay under Newcastle from Cooks Hill to Adamstown is the subgrade for most driveways here, so the base is compacted and the slab jointed. Off the ridge the suburb drains to the Throsby and Styx system through concrete channels, which council says flood often and at short notice; in June 2007 the water ran hard even in the smaller drains here. Part of the suburb, the southern and eastern side towards Adamstown Heights and Merewether, appears to be inside the Newcastle Mine Subsidence District, while the low ground along the railway towards Broadmeadow appears to be outside. Either way the driveway is unaffected, since driveways and hard stand spaces are exempt under all Subsidence Advisory NSW guidelines apart from 4 and 5; a lot’s status is checked on the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer before a garage or a shed is ordered.

Short replacements and rear lane aprons

A short driveway on a narrow lot is the standard removal and replacement, poured in plain concrete at the width the side setback allows and often with the front path and a patio or shed slab in the same load, because a small pour carries the crew and truck alone. Where a garage faces a lane, the apron between the boundary and the lane surface is a crossing in its own right. Townhouses along the corridor take a shared driveway from a side street, with an exposed aggregate forecourt. Kotara has the same council and longer driveways.

The crossing off a lane or a side street

City of Newcastle approves a crossing, front or lane, through its Section 138 (Type 1) application, and the same form carries a road opening permit if a stormwater pipe has to cross the verge to the kerb. Drawing A1300 holds the crossing clear of poles, pits and street trees, and council inspects the formwork before the pour. The Section 138 guide covers the order of events.

Finishes for a cottage frontage

A short driveway is all frontage, so coloured concrete or exposed aggregate earns its place on a renovated cottage, while plain broom does a lane apron and a shared run. Council’s drawing gives the crossing a plain broom finish and bars stamped concrete and sealer from it, so a decorative finish stops at the boundary.

Adamstown rates per square metre

Supplied and laid, patios and alfresco $100 to $180; shed and garage slabs $110 to $150; paths $90 to $130; removing the old driveway first adds about $35; plain concrete $95 to $130; coloured $115 to $160; exposed aggregate $130 to $185. In Adamstown it is the size of the pour that moves the price, because 20 square metres on a narrow lot costs nearly as much to set up as 40, and a pipe to the kerb adds a trench and a permit. Run the calculator, read the cost guide, and check quotes against the specification and the Section 138 guide.

Before the crossing is poured

The strip from your front boundary to the kerb needs City of Newcastle's Section 138 (Type 1) approval before it is poured, whether the driveway is new, wider than before or a replacement. Council's drawing A1300 fixes the width, the 100 mm thickness and the plain broom finish on that strip. What happens inside the boundary is your call.

The application, step by step

Straight answers

Asked in Adamstown

Can a new house in Adamstown have its garage off the rear lane instead of Brunker Road?

Along the renewal corridor council prefers it. The controls for Brunker Road and the Glebe Road precinct say vehicle access should come from side streets and rear laneways, keep the existing lanes and rights of way, and create new public lanes as sites redevelop. A lane apron is still a crossing under the Roads Act, so it goes through the Section 138 (Type 1) application and is built to drawing A1300, at least 100 mm thick and 750 mm clear of any power pole.

Part of Adamstown is inside the mine subsidence district and part is outside. Which side am I on?

Only the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer can say for a single lot. On the state map the southern and eastern parts of the suburb, towards Adamstown Heights, Merewether and Hamilton South, sit inside the Newcastle Mine Subsidence District, and the low ground along the railway towards Broadmeadow sits outside, with the boundary stepping through the northern half. For a driveway the answer changes nothing, because driveways and hard stand spaces are exempt under all Subsidence Advisory NSW guidelines except 4 and 5. A new garage is assessed.

My Adamstown block is low and near a stormwater channel. How should the driveway handle water?

With falls that carry water to the street and a grated drain across the garage door where the driveway drops towards the house. Council says the Throsby and Styx catchments flood fast with little warning, and in June 2007 the flow was strong in the smaller drains through Adamstown, so a slab that funnels water to the door is the fault to design out. If a pipe has to run through the verge to the kerb, that is a road opening on the same Type 1 form as the crossing.

Adamstown, 2289

Measured on the block, not priced from a photo

One independent local concreter, one site visit, one figure in writing for a Adamstown driveway.