Updated July 2026
In short
The usual reasons: poor visibility or a road-safety risk, being too close to a junction, a busy/classified road, protected trees or services in the way, or not enough driveway depth to park clear of the pavement.
Most dropped kerb applications in Nottingham go through — but not all. Knowing the usual sticking points before you apply saves time and money.
The main reasons for refusal
- Road safety / visibility. If you can’t pull out safely, or the crossing would create a hazard, it’ll be refused.
- Too close to a junction or corner. Authorities keep crossings a safe distance from junctions.
- Busy or classified roads. A crossing onto an A-road or heavily-trafficked route faces a much higher bar.
- Not enough driveway depth. If a parked car would still overhang the pavement, it can be refused — you generally need enough depth to park fully clear.
- Protected trees or verges. A TPO tree, or a verge the council won’t allow crossing, can block it.
- Services in the way. Utilities, drainage or street furniture — a lamp post, manhole or telecoms box — at the crossing point.
Be wary of anyone quoting you exact numbers
You’ll find confident figures online — “10m from a junction”, “1.5m from a lamp post”, “4.8m minimum depth”. We went through both councils’ published policies, specifications and standard drawings line by line: neither Nottingham City nor Nottinghamshire County publishes any of them. They’re imported from other councils and repeated until they look official. Junction proximity, sight lines and street furniture are judged case by case by an officer — there’s no number to hit. Our approval checker uses only what the councils actually state.
What you can do about it
Some of these are fixable — moving the crossing point along the frontage, increasing driveway depth, or relocating a utility. Others (a genuine safety issue) aren’t. A good contractor spots the likely problems before you apply, so you’re not paying for an application that can’t succeed. One that catches people out in the city: Nottingham City won’t approve a dropped kerb until the driveway is already built — so the order matters.
How we de-risk it
We assess the frontage first and only take on jobs we expect to get approved, then manage the Section 184 application end to end. If yours is borderline, we’ll tell you straight. Try the approval checker, or get a free assessment.
Want it sorted properly?
We install council-approved dropped kerbs across Nottingham & Nottinghamshire — and handle the whole Section 184 application for you.
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