What we do in Westminster, 7 km from Landsdale
IBP Paving is based in Landsdale, about 7 km north of Westminster as the crow flies. Typical work in this suburb is replacing driveways that have done their time, repairing and relaying paths, paving back yards so they need little looking after, and putting in soakwells that meet the City of Stirling's sizing rule. Owner occupiers and landlords get the same thing: a site visit before any price, over 20 years of trade experience on the job and a lifetime workmanship warranty when it is done.
Stirling's crossover rules, and half the cost of a standard one
A lot of Westminster driveways meet the road through an old crossover, and replacing the two together is common. The City of Stirling has firm rules on what that crossover can be made of.
A Crossover Installation Application has to be approved before a crossover is built or modified, and generally one crossover is allowed per street frontage, 3.0 to 6.0 m wide for a single residence. Pavers must be heavy duty units for vehicular traffic, and asphalt is not permitted for residential crossovers. For the first crossover to a property the City subsidises 50 percent of a standard 3 m grey concrete crossover, claimed within 12 months of completion.
Source: City of Stirling, Crossover Policy; Crossover Guidelines Residential and Non Residential.
Inside the boundary the City expects every lot to keep its rainfall on site. Storage is worked out as impervious area in square metres multiplied by 0.015, which reflects a 1 in 1 year, 60 minute storm of about 15 mm. A 180 square metre house and driveway therefore needs 2.7 cubic metres of soakwell. The details are on our City of Stirling soakwell requirements page.
Source: City of Stirling, On Site Stormwater Drainage Criteria (June 2024).
A suburb that used to be south Balga
Westminster was the southern part of Balga until 1995, when it was renamed at the request of residents. Balga itself was built from the 1960s under the State Housing Commission's Mirrabooka Project, so much of Westminster's housing and its paving likely share that history. Driveways of that age are often cracked concrete or early pavers that have been patched more than once.
The suburb also has a high share of rental housing: about 44 percent of homes are privately rented. That shapes the jobs. Landlords and property managers typically need paving replacement on broken driveways, repairs to lifted path sections before an inspection, and paved back yards that will stay tidy without a gardener. A plain side path from the front gate to the clothesline, a new driveway in a dark paver that hides tyre marks, and a soakwell big enough for the roof are the usual package.
Sand between two dune systems
Westminster typically sits on the boundary between the yellow Spearwood sand that runs under Balcatta and the grey Bassendean sand under Balga. Either way the ground is sand and drains freely, and the water table on these dunes is generally several metres below the surface, with no named wetland in the suburb. That makes soakwells straightforward. The ground still needs care at base level: we compact it in layers, lay crushed limestone under driveways and keep the edges locked so pavers cannot spread. The coast is roughly 8 km away, so standard pavers are fine and salt grade units are not needed.
The limestone road behind the name
Between 1936 and 1955 a limestone road called Westminster Boulevard ran through the area, and the suburb takes its name from the original estate it served. Limestone is still what holds a Westminster driveway up today, in a different form. Under every vehicle area we lay a compacted crushed limestone base so the pavers above stay level under daily car traffic. It is the part of the job nobody sees once the pavers are down, and it is the reason a properly replaced driveway does not dip along the wheel tracks a few years later. On driveways of this age the original base is often thin or missing altogether, and that usually explains the sinking owners notice.
Westminster's neighbours
From Westminster we also cover Balga, Mirrabooka, Nollamara, Balcatta and Stirling. Every suburb on our list is on areas we service.
