Ellenbrook paving, about 12.5 km from Landsdale
Ellenbrook is the largest suburb on our list, close to 25,000 people across villages that have been added one at a time since the 1990s, and it is about 12.5 km east of IBP Paving's base in Landsdale. The spread of ages means two kinds of work on the same day: a new driveway and alfresco for a handover home in one of the recent LWP stages in the morning, and a lift and relay of a 1990s driveway in one of the first villages in the afternoon. We supply and lay brick, concrete and stone pavers, build crossovers to the City of Swan specification and install the soakwells the City expects, with a lifetime workmanship warranty and over 20 years in the trade.
Driveway covenants in the newer Ellenbrook villages
Ellenbrook was developed as a joint venture between the State and private partners, and the developer's design guidelines still bind buyers in the newer stages. The LWP Malvern Springs Hillside Stage 4 guidelines, annexed to the contract of sale as restrictive covenants in May 2023, are the clearest example. Clause 3.2.6 requires driveway and crossover colours to be complementary to the dwelling and constructed from muted natural tones such as grey, charcoal and limestone; prohibits plain grey concrete and asphalt; requires driveways and footpath crossovers to be built before occupancy; protects LWP planted or retained verge trees unless the City of Swan approves otherwise; and requires a 90 mm diameter stormwater pipe under the driveway for future irrigation. LWP design approval is needed before plans are lodged with the City, and the front landscaping package is only installed once the driveway and crossover are complete.
For a new Ellenbrook home that usually means a paved driveway in charcoal or limestone toned pavers is the simplest way to satisfy both the covenant and the City. We lay the conduit under the driveway as part of the job.
Source: LWP, Annexure A, Malvern Springs Hillside Design Guidelines and Restrictive Covenants, Stage 4 (May 2023). The clause applies to that stage; check the annexure for your own lot.
Over the top of any covenant sits the City of Swan. Its crossover specification allows clay or concrete pavers of 60 to 76 mm on 150 mm of limestone or rock base with a concrete beam at the road, and it contributes $400 to a first residential crossover built to the specification. Its soakwell guide is 0.0122 cubic metres per square metre of impervious area, with units at least 1.8 metres from footings and boundaries. Both are explained on our City of Swan soakwell requirements page.
Sand the colonists gave back
Ellenbrook's ground is Bassendean sand, and the history proves it: the early colonists granted land here surrendered it because of the poor agricultural value of its Bassendean sands, and the area was quarried for sand from the 1970s before the suburb was planned. What is useless for farming is close to ideal for soakwells. The grey sand is deep and free draining, the water table is generally several metres down, and there is no limestone to break through, so standard round concrete units sized from the City's guide work almost everywhere.
The exceptions are the low swales. The Lexia wetlands lie to the north, Ellen Brook forms the eastern boundary, and the suburb was banksia woodland and wetland before it was houses, so the lowest lots can hold winter groundwater within reach of a soakwell base. On those we measure the level before we size. The coast is about 22 km away, so salt bloom on pavers is not a factor. The Gnangara pine plantation and state forest edge to the west and the wetland margins are the bushfire interface, where a non combustible paved surround against the house is a sensible choice.
From handover driveways to the first relays
In the newer villages the work is new build: a driveway and crossover laid to the covenant and the City's schedule, an alfresco behind the house, side paths, and soakwells sized for the paving as well as the roof, because the builder's plan rarely covers both. Herringbone in a charcoal concrete paver is the most requested driveway pattern here: it locks under wheel loads and satisfies the muted tone covenant.
In the first villages from the 1990s the driveways are 25 to 30 years old and the pattern is familiar: sound pavers, a sand bed that has crept, and a soakwell half full of washed in sand. A lift and relay on a compacted crushed limestone base with the soakwell cleaned or replaced is the usual fix, and owners often extend the patio at the same time. The Vines to the north and Henley Brook and Upper Swan to the east are covered from this page and from Aveley.
Verge paving and street trees in Ellenbrook
Many Ellenbrook verges were landscaped by the developer, and the City of Swan is reluctant to see them paved. Hardstand on a verge beyond paths and crossovers is not normally encouraged and needs written permission; where approved, the paving must leave a 1 metre by 1 metre opening per frontage for a tree or garden bed, direct water into it and be clearly separated from the crossover paving. The City's tree planting guidelines rule out removing a verge tree just because it is beside the first crossover unless there is no alternative, and a second crossover never justifies removal. Combined with the LWP clause protecting developer planted trees, the practical rule in Ellenbrook is to design the driveway around the tree.
Sources: City of Swan, Verge Guidelines; City of Swan, Tree Planting Guidelines (Version 6, 27 November 2025).
Suburbs around Ellenbrook
We also service Aveley to the east, Brabham and Dayton to the south, and The Vines, Henley Brook and Upper Swan around the edges. The full list is on our areas we service page.
