Noranda driveways and soakwells, about 8 km from our yard
If you are after paving in Noranda, IBP Paving works from Landsdale, about 8 km away, and the suburb sits well inside our normal area. We relay and replace driveways, lay patios, paths and pool surrounds in brick and stone, and dig in new soakwells where the old ones have silted up or the house has gained roof area. Every job carries a lifetime workmanship warranty, and the crew has over 20 years of experience on Perth's sandy northern ground.
Homes from the late 1970s and what they need now
Noranda took its name in 1977, and the bulk of its houses date from the 1970s and the 1980s. That age shows in the paving. Driveways laid with the houses are now 35 to 45 years old, and the typical faults are dips along the wheel tracks, pavers rocking near the garage and edges spreading into the garden. Where the pavers themselves are still sound, a lift and relay on a recompacted base brings them back to level for far less than new material. Where they have cracked or worn thin, we recommend a full replacement, often with a wider driveway to suit two cars.
The original soakwells are the other common issue. They may have been sized for the roof alone, before patios and extra paving were added, and after four decades some have filled with fine sand and leaf litter. Replacing them is often part of the same job as the driveway, because the lids are often beneath it.
Sizing soakwells to the City of Bayswater formula
Noranda is in the City of Bayswater, which publishes its residential soakwell rule as a straight calculation. Stormwater has to stay on the lot, with downpipes running to soakwells of adequate combined volume.
Combined soakwell volume (m3) = total impervious area (m2) x 0.0125. That retains 12.5 mm of rain on site, and roofs, paving, driveways and patios all count as impervious.
As a worked case, a Noranda home with 170 square metres of roof, 60 square metres of driveway and a 30 square metre patio has 260 square metres of hard surface and needs 3.25 cubic metres of storage. Our soakwell cost guide shows how that translates into unit sizes, and the Perth soakwell requirements page compares Bayswater with nearby councils.
At the street, approval is required before crossover works start, and new crossovers follow the City's specifications. The City subsidises one standard crossover per lot under its fees schedule, including rebuilding an old bitumen crossover in concrete or brick paving, but it will not maintain or subsidise bitumen. Footpaths take priority, are plain grey concrete, and may be cut through a decorative crossover such as exposed aggregate when a path goes in. On the verge, brick paving over up to 30 per cent of the area, excluding driveway and path, is deemed to comply if trees able to shade it are planted, and anything above 30 per cent must account for stormwater, with extra soakwells a possible concession. Synthetic lawn is not allowed on verges, raised beds stop at 0.35 m and sit 0.5 m back from paths, crossovers and street trees, and existing street trees stay unless the City approves removal in writing, with nearby works to follow AS 4970-2009.
Source: City of Bayswater, Clearance of Subdivision Conditions Information Sheet; Crossovers Policy; Street Verges Policy.
Lightning Swamp, groundwater and the bushland edge
Lightning Swamp Bushland lies within Noranda, and it changes how we approach the lots around it. Most of the suburb is likely to be on deep grey Bassendean sand that drains freely, which is why the 12.5 mm rule is easy to meet. Close to the swamp, though, the water table may be nearer the surface, and a soakwell whose base sits in winter groundwater cannot do its job. Near the bushland we check the depth before we dig and may use two shallower units in place of one deep one.
Some lots beside the bushland may also be mapped as bush fire prone, so it is worth checking your address on the DFES map. Paving is non combustible, which makes it a sensible surface for the strip right around the house. The coast is roughly 14 km west, so salt exposure plays no part in choosing pavers here.
North of Widgee Road and around Lightning Park
The part of Noranda north of Widgee Road moved from the City of Swan to the City of Bayswater on 1 July 2016. Older paperwork for homes there may reference Swan, but today the Bayswater crossover, verge and soakwell rules above are the ones that apply. Lightning Park Recreation Centre is in Noranda too, so the name turns up twice on local maps: the reserve and the sports centre are separate places.
Next door to Noranda
We also work across Morley to the south, Dianella to the west, Beechboro to the east, and Mirrabooka and Ballajura to the north. The full list is on areas we service.
