Vehicle crossings and council permits

The vehicle crossing, or crossover, is the part of the driveway between the kerb and your front boundary. It sits in the road reserve, so the council must consent before anyone builds, widens or removes it, and its inspector checks the base before the concrete goes in. Kalkallo is in Hume City Council, which takes applications by email, post or at a customer service centre. Kalkallo Concreting is a referral website: an independent concreter you choose prices the crossing, applies for or works under the consent, and builds it.

Who controls the crossover in each nearby council?

Suburb	Council	What council calls the approval
Kalkallo, Mickleham, Craigieburn	Hume City Council	Consent to work within a Hume road reserve
Donnybrook, Beveridge Whittlesea part	City of Whittlesea	Vehicle crossing application, then a Works in Road Reserve permit
Beveridge, Mitchell part	Mitchell Shire Council	Works within the road reserve permit

Council areas are taken from the .id community profiles for each council. Check your rates notice if you are near a boundary, because Beveridge is split between two councils.

Hume City Council rules

Hume’s driveways and crossovers page says consent is needed for any work in a road reserve, and that without it you cannot construct, install, remove or alter a vehicle crossing. Applications are assessed under the Vehicle Crossings Siting Policy, and fees are set from the fee schedule under the road management regulations and are non-refundable; the page lists them and says fee units are reviewed each July. The consent form current from July 2026 adds practical conditions:

• A standard residential crossing is 3.0 m to 3.7 m wide; wider only where the car cannot otherwise reach the property without driving over the nature strip.
• No more than one crossing per allotment unless council permits otherwise.
• No crossing within 9 metres of an intersection without written approval.
• Crossings must be plain concrete where a footpath is present; decorative or coloured concrete and pavers are not permitted unless council approves.
• Base of 20 mm Class 2 fine crushed rock, and ready mixed concrete of at least 25 MPa at 28 days.
• 24 hours notice to council’s Technical Services for an inspection before pouring.
• Works must be completed within 60 days of the permit being issued, and assessment can take up to 20 business days after payment.
• The applicant must name the contractor and its public liability insurer before the application can be paid.

The siting policy also says any agreed relocation of a street tree, pole, pit or other asset is at the applicant’s cost, and a redundant crossing must be removed and the kerb, footpath and nature strip reinstated before booking the pre-pour inspection.

City of Whittlesea rules (Donnybrook, part of Beveridge)

Whittlesea’s Vehicle Crossing Policy 2024 sets a two step process: an application with a dimensioned concept plan and frontage photos, then a Works in Road Reserve permit once the crossing is supported. Points from the policy:

• Single dwelling crossings 3 m to 4 m wide at the property line, one per lot.
• No new crossing for a single dwelling with a frontage under 7.6 m.
• No crossing within 2.5 m of a street tree trunk.
• Inspections: two business days of notice for the pre-pour check, booked by the permit holder, then a final check roughly four weeks on.
• The contractor must carry public liability cover at the level the policy sets, and a traffic management plan must be in place during construction.

Mitchell Shire rules (Beveridge, Mitchell part)

Mitchell Shire’s works in the road reserve page lists crossovers among the jobs that need a works within road reserve permit. Work, including excavation, must not start until the permit is issued, a permit is needed for every job, and it is valid for 3 months unless the permit says otherwise. The page also sets environmental conditions, such as no machinery or materials stored on the roadside.

Hume’s consent form and Mitchell’s permit page both refer to the Road Management Act 2004, under which council gives consent as the coordinating road authority for its roads.

What building a crossing involves

1. Confirm the location and width against the council policy, and check for trees, pits and poles in the way.
2. Lodge the application with plans and photos, and pay the fee.
3. Once consent is issued, set up traffic and pedestrian management.
4. Saw cut and remove any old crossing or kerb, and excavate to council depth.
5. Place the crushed rock base and formwork to the standard drawing; call for the pre-pour inspection.
6. Pour, finish and cure; restore the nature strip.

A crossing with a steep change in grade can scrape cars. Whittlesea’s policy notes that crossings in streets with a high road crown, swale drains or a high property level are prone to scraping, and may need a design with surveyed levels. The CCAA data sheet on residential driveways recommends grades no steeper than 1 in 20 in the footpath area and transition zones where the driveway beyond is steep.

What does a crossover cost?

None of the published price sources checked for this site separates crossover work from general driveway concreting. The council’s application and inspection fees are listed on each council’s own page and change each financial year, so check them there. A concreter’s price for the crossing itself depends on removal of an old crossing or kerb, the area, the base depth council requires and whether traffic control is needed. The Kalkallo concreting cost guide gives sourced ranges for removal and plain concrete that make up part of a crossover price.

What a careful concreter will not do

• Start digging in the road reserve before consent is issued.
• Pour without the council inspection. Whittlesea’s policy says council may then order all or part of the crossing rebuilt at the applicant’s cost, and Hume’s siting policy reserves the same right for work that falls short of its standards.
• Match the crossing to an exposed or coloured driveway in Hume without written approval.
• Cut a street tree’s roots or move a pit without the owner authority’s written approval.

Linking it to your driveway

A crossover is often built at the same time as a new driveway; plan the levels of both together so the concrete driveway meets the crossing without a lip. For Donnybrook, the Donnybrook area page covers the Whittlesea process in more local detail.

What to do next

Photograph the frontage, kerb and footpath, note any street tree or pit, and confirm your council. Then request a crossover and driveway quote.

Send a job enquiry