Paving in Mount Lawley, by arrangement from Landsdale
IBP Paving lays clay and stone paving for Mount Lawley homes: courtyards, side paths, front entries and driveways, plus soakwells built to the City of Stirling's drainage criteria. Mount Lawley is about 14 km south of our Landsdale base in a straight line, further than our everyday round, so we take work here by arrangement and ask for the job details first. Once we confirm, the job gets the same lifetime workmanship warranty and over 20 years of paving experience as any other.
From the Mount Lawley Estate to the Astor
The suburb's estates were laid out between 1889 and 1901, and Mount Lawley was proclaimed in 1901. The Mount Lawley Estate, developed by R. T. Robinson and Sam Copley, ran north from Walcott Street. One landmark sums up the era's mix of styles: the Astor Theatre, built in 1914 to 15 and remodelled in Art Deco style in 1939, is on the State heritage list. The housing that grew up around it is largely Federation and Edwardian, and that character is what the City now protects.
Courtyards, side paths and clay pavers
Character homes rarely suit grey concrete or oversized porcelain. The paving that looks right in Mount Lawley tends to be warm toned clay, laid in traditional bonds, and kept to a scale that fits a cottage frontage. Jobs that suit these homes include:
- rear courtyards behind renovated Federation and Edwardian homes
- narrow side paths and front garden paths to the verandah
- clay brick paving in basketweave or herringbone for driveways and entries
- a careful lift and relay of old pavers worth keeping
Because space is often tight between house and fence, we plan where excavated sand will go and how the soakwells fit around existing footings before the first paver comes up.
Three councils, one heritage area
Mount Lawley is split between three local governments. Most of it, including the Heritage Protection Area, is in the City of Stirling; the south west corner is in the City of Vincent, and the east is in the City of Bayswater, which has a Character Protection Area of its own. The rules below are Stirling's.
The Stirling Heritage Protection Area covers the majority of Mount Lawley, Menora and Inglewood. Demolitions, renovations, extensions and new buildings all need a development application. Verge paving, concrete and synthetic turf are not permitted inside the area. A proposed additional crossover is assessed against the Local Planning Scheme and the relevant Local Planning Policies. Character retention guidelines apply, but we have not seen the adopted wording on driveways, so please check with the City before you change a driveway or front garden layout. Any crossover work starts with a Crossover Installation Application, and asphalt is not accepted as a residential crossover surface.
Sources: City of Stirling, Heritage and development; Verge Treatment Policy; Crossover Policy and Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non Residential.
Old wetlands under the sand
Most of Mount Lawley sits on Spearwood and Karrakatta sand, which usually drains freely. The catch is history: much of the modern suburb lies within the former Perth Wetlands, Hyde Park was the old Third Swamp, and the Swan River runs along the eastern boundary. In low pockets the water table can be shallow, and the City of Stirling requires a Drainage Management Plan, with storage for a 1 in 20 year storm, where groundwater sits within 1.2 m of the surface. Salt should not be an issue at around 11 km from the coast.
On a standard lot, the City's criteria require all rainfall to stay within the boundary, with capacity worked out as impervious area times 0.015 for a 15 mm storm. A Federation cottage with 160 square metres of roof needs 2.4 cubic metres for roof water alone, held apart from runoff off the courtyard and paths. The minimum roof water soakwell is 900 mm by 600 mm, kept 1 m from structures and boundaries, which takes planning on a narrow lot. The City of Stirling soakwell requirements page sets out the full criteria.
Source: City of Stirling, On Site Stormwater Drainage Criteria (June 2024).
Next door to Mount Lawley
We also work in Inglewood and Menora under the same heritage rules, and in Highgate, North Perth and Maylands. See areas we service for the full list.
