Herne Hill paving: what we do and how we take the work
Herne Hill sits in the Swan Valley, about 15 km in a straight line east of IBP Paving's base in Landsdale. Because it is further out than our normal run, we take work here by arrangement, and we ask for the job details first: the length of driveway or size of the area, what will drive or stand on it, and some photos. That lets us judge the job before we visit. On these properties we pave driveways and turning circles, lay hardstand for sheds and working areas, build outdoor living areas and design drainage for clay ground. Every job has a lifetime workmanship warranty and over 20 years of experience behind it.
Valley floor clay rising to the scarp
The western part of Herne Hill typically sits on Guildford Formation clay on the valley floor, and the land rises east toward the Ridge Hill Shelf and the foot of the Darling Scarp. That gives two quite different paving sites within one suburb. On the flat, clay is the issue: it holds water, softens in winter and moves as it dries, so we excavate deeper and lay a heavier compacted base under any driveway that will carry a ute, a trailer or a truck. On the higher ground, rock can turn up during excavation, and we price the dig with that possibility in mind. Groundwater in the foothills is generally poor, and on the valley floor the Guildford Clay is known for limited yield and salinity, acidity or staining issues.
Rural driveways, hardstand and winery country
Herne Hill is a wine area with several wineries, Talijancich Wines and Windy Creek Estate among them, and the Minh Quang Meditation Institute is also in the suburb. Most homes typically sit on rural or semi rural lots, so the paving work is about distance and load rather than small courtyards. Common requests are a gravel track upgraded to a paved driveway for the last stretch to the house, a turning area wide enough for a car and trailer, and hardstand around sheds, cellar doors or tasting areas built to commercial paving standards. Closer to the house, a paved alfresco area in limestone or large format pavers suits the open setting.
Parts of the area border rural land toward Gidgegannup and can carry some bushfire exposure. Where that applies, we suggest a band of non combustible paving against the house and outbuildings in place of mulch, bark or timber decking.
City of Swan soakwell and crossover rules
Run-off in the City of Swan goes either to Council's stormwater system or to approved on site retention such as soakwells. The City's D12 guideline, which holds most of these rules, excludes individual residential development from its scope, so on a single home we treat it as a guide and apply it with care.
A soakwell sits at least 1.8 m from any footing or property boundary, and units under paving or concrete need trafficable lids and maintenance access. The general sizing guide is 0.0122 cubic metres of soakwell per square metre of impervious area, about 12.2 litres, based on sandy soil of high permeability, with 0.0159 used at R30 or higher coding.
That sandy soil assumption rarely holds on valley floor clay, so a test hole comes before any soakwell order, and we often add surface drains and pipework to move water to a better draining part of the lot. Stormwater may not run over the crossover or verge onto the road.
A residential crossover is at least 3.0 m wide, and no wider than 6.0 m or 40 percent of the frontage, whichever is less. It keeps 6 m from a street corner, 3.5 m from verge trees and 0.5 m from light poles or services. Paving a verge needs written permission through an Application to Alter Verge, and asphalt, concrete and loose gravel there are refused. Our City of Swan soakwell requirements page goes into more detail.
Source: City of Swan, D12 Property Development Design Guidelines (August 2016); Handbook of Stormwater Drainage Design (April 2022); Specification for the Construction of Vehicle Crossovers (February 2022); Verge Guidelines and Application to Alter Verge form.
Middle Swan, West Swan and the valley suburbs
Herne Hill sits among Middle Swan, West Swan, Henley Brook and Jane Brook, and we cover each of them too. Every suburb we work in is listed on the areas we service page.
