Paving Greenwood's 1970s homes
Greenwood is a City of Joondalup suburb about 6.3 km south west of IBP Paving's base in Landsdale, and its housing is a generation older than ours: the Greenwood Forest estate opened in 1969 and most streets were built through the 1970s. That age shows in the paving. We replace driveways that have cracked past saving, build limestone retaining walls where lots have been split, pave verges within the City's limits and install soakwells where the original house never had enough. Over 20 years of experience and a lifetime workmanship warranty apply to every job.
Verge paving in Greenwood: 75 square metres or half the verge
Greenwood's wide 1970s verges invite paving, and the City of Joondalup is one of the few Perth councils that puts a number on how much is allowed. Its Street Verge Guidelines, made under clause 8.7 of the City's Local Government and Public Property Local Law 2014, set the limit.
For standard (non-corner) properties the maximum hardstand area is "75m2 or 50% of the verge area (whichever is the lesser) exclusive of any existing footpaths and crossovers". Corner properties may have 150 square metres or 50 per cent, whichever is smaller. A minimum of one metre must be kept between the base of any street tree and any hardstand or crossover.
Source: City of Joondalup, Street Verge Guidelines (Version 2.6, December 2016); City of Joondalup, Verges and crossovers web page.
Acceptable materials are brick paving, cement based surfaces such as concrete and poured limestone, and synthetic turf. Asphalt, gravel, crushed brick, compacted limestone and loose stone are not permitted, and the City's web page adds that pea gravel and parking embayments are refused. Where there is no footpath a 1.5 metre strip from the back of the kerb must stay clear, with planting kept under 600 mm. Properties inside Housing Opportunity Areas get no additional hardstand at all. We measure the verge and draw the paved area to these limits before quoting, so there is no argument later.
Soakwells under the City of Joondalup
Joondalup's residential soakwells page carries the same obligation as Wanneroo's: owners must confine runoff within their boundaries under common law and the Local Government Act 1995. It lists the same six common concrete soakwell sizes, from a 600 mm unit holding 180 litres to an 1800 mm by 1200 mm unit holding 3,100 litres, and uses the one downpipe per 15 square metres of roof rule. Soakwells must be set back from buildings and boundaries by at least their width. Many 1970s Greenwood homes have undersized units or none at all beside the paving, so we add soakwells as part of a driveway replacement. The details are on our City of Joondalup soakwell requirements page.
Source: City of Joondalup, Residential soakwells (stormwater runoff) web page.
Yellow Spearwood sand and what it means for digging
Greenwood marks a change in the ground. The grey Bassendean sand of Landsdale and Girrawheen gives way to yellow brown Spearwood sand of the Karrakatta type, sitting over Tamala Limestone. The sand drains as freely as Bassendean, and in Greenwood the limestone is deep enough that we rarely hit caprock when excavating a soakwell, unlike the coastal suburbs further west. There is no lake or wetland in the suburb; the Mitchell Freeway reserve is the only open corridor. The coast is about 5 km away, beyond the one to two kilometre strip where salt wind affects pavers, and there is no bushland interface to consider.
Mature stock: replacement, retaining and infill
Driveways in Greenwood are frequently past relaying. Original poured concrete or thin slabs from the 1970s have cracked and heaved, so the job is full replacement with a compacted base and 60 mm pavers. Subdivision of the big original lots is common, and the level changes between new lots call for limestone retaining walls before the shared driveway and courtyards are paved. Warwick and Hamersley, the two small neighbouring suburbs of the same vintage, are covered from this page.
At the street, Joondalup's crossover guidelines allow segmented clay or concrete pavers on a residential crossover, require the apron and kerb in grey pre-mix concrete, keep the footpath continuous through it, and pay a one off $375 subsidy for a first crossover or the replacement of an old bitumen one. No application is needed to modify an existing crossover that meets the guidelines.
Sources: City of Joondalup, Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non-Residential (May 2026); Verges and crossovers web page.
Neighbouring suburbs
Greenwood adjoins Kingsley to the north east, Duncraig to the west and Padbury to the north west, with Warwick and Hamersley to the south. We reach all of them from Landsdale; see areas we service.
