Burns Beach paving, taken on by arrangement
Burns Beach is about 16 km from IBP Paving's yard in Landsdale, out past Joondalup on the edge of the Indian Ocean. That is further than our regular runs, so we take work here by arrangement: send us the job details first, ideally with a few photos and rough measurements, and we will come back to you on how and when it can be fitted in. Once booked, the work is what we do everywhere else: brick and concrete pavers, limestone and travertine, driveways, alfresco areas, pool surrounds and soakwells, backed by over 20 years in the trade and a lifetime workmanship warranty.
From holiday shacks to 1990s family homes
For most of its history Burns Beach was a small coastal village of holiday dwellings, some built before the Second World War and others after it. Suburban growth only arrived in the early to mid 1990s, in step with Currambine and Kinross, so the suburb now mixes mature homes with newer builds. That mix decides what we are asked to quote.
On the older and 1990s lots, original driveways and paths have had decades of sand movement and root growth, and the usual answer is a lift and relay on a recompacted base, or full replacement where pavers have faded or cracked. On newer and rebuilt homes the jobs are a first driveway, an alfresco area out the back and, with the beach this close, pool surrounds. Pale limestone and travertine suit the coastal light and stay cooler underfoot than charcoal concrete.
Dune sand, sea spray and the Tamala Park edge
Most of Burns Beach typically sits on Quindalup dune sand, the pale sand of the coastal strip, with older Spearwood sand beneath it and further inland. Both drain fast, which is good news for soakwells, but loose dune sand needs a properly compacted crushed limestone base under any driveway or the wheel tracks start to sink within a few years. Close to the ocean the groundwater rests over a saltwater wedge, so we keep soakwell bases well above it.
Salt is the bigger issue. Most homes here are likely within about a kilometre of the beach, and salt laden wind slowly breaks down soft pavers and mortar. On coastal jobs we specify exposure grade clay or dense concrete pavers, washed bedding sand and a penetrating sealer. North of the suburb is the Tamala Park bushland buffer, and on lots near that edge we suggest paving rather than mulch or timber against the house, because pavers do not burn.
What the City of Joondalup asks of your driveway and drainage
Burns Beach is in the City of Joondalup, and the City's homeowner guidance starts from one principle: stormwater has to stay on your own lot.
Owners must confine stormwater runoff within their property boundaries. The City's guide is one downpipe for roughly every 15 square metres of roof, with downpipes no more than 12 m apart, and common soakwells from 600 to 1800 mm in diameter holding 180 to 3100 litres, sized for normal rainfall. A soakwell should be set back from buildings and boundaries by at least its own width.
For the crossover, residential driveways across the verge may be clay or concrete pavers, grey or coloured concrete or flagstone, but the apron and kerb must be grey pre-mix concrete, and asphalt, gravel and compacted limestone are not permitted. A single dwelling crossover is 3.0 to 6.0 m wide, at least 0.5 m from the side boundary and 6.0 m from an intersection kerb tangent, with the footpath kept continuous through it. The City pays a one off $375 subsidy for a first crossover, or for replacing an old bitumen one, built to its guidelines and claimed within six months. Verge hardstand on a standard lot is capped at 75 m2 or half the verge, whichever is less, and must keep at least 1 m clear of a street tree. Our City of Joondalup soakwell requirements page has more detail.
Source: City of Joondalup, Residential soakwells (stormwater runoff) web page; Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non-Residential (May 2026); Verges and crossovers web page; Street Verge Guidelines.
The caravan park end of the coastal walk
Burns Beach still has its original caravan park, and the suburb marks one end of the coastal walk that runs south all the way to Fremantle. The streets nearest the foreshore see plenty of sandy feet and salt air as a result. For front paths and entries there we lean towards textured or tumbled pavers that keep their grip when sand is tracked across them, and we lay paths with a gentle fall away from the house so blown sand rinses off instead of banking up against the walls. Soakwells under paved areas get trafficable lids so a driveway can run straight over them.
Kinross, Iluka and the suburbs around Burns Beach
The suburbs bordering Burns Beach share its sand and much of its housing story. Kinross and Currambine grew in the same 1990s wave, Iluka is the coastal neighbour to the south, and Mindarie and Clarkson lie north beyond Tamala Park. All of them are on our areas we service list.
