Apply
Please note there is a fee of £218.00 to cover administration and site inspection costs. Cheques should be made payable to Somerset County Council, and must accompany this application form. This fee is non-refundable.
Please read the specific Schedule of Conditions before completing the form.
Applicants (homeowners), intending to construct a vehicle crossing must contact their Local Planning Authority (LPA), as planning permission may be required. Where required, planning permission must be obtained before submitting this application.
If the proposed works require piping, culverting or obstructs an ordinary watercourse, whether permanent or temporary, it is a legal requirement under section 23 of the Land Drainage Act to seek consent from the relevant authority. More information
The permit is valid for 3 months. Subsequent extensions will require a new application and are subject to a further fee.
This form has 9 pages and will take about 7 minutes to complete.
We have recently reviewed the cost of licence fees for applications to work on the highway and for the provision of vehicle crossings over footways and verges. The review confirmed the cost of the licence fees have not kept pace with the costs for administration. Regrettably, this is currently unsustainable. As such, the fees have been raised as detailed below.
The following charges apply to
- Application for minor works on or near the public highway – subject to planning conditions, for example, a waiting bay – £250.00
- Application for minor works (involving excavations) on or near the public highway – £232.00
- Application for the deposition of materials (including work equipment, building materials, rubbish and other things) – £50.00
- Application for a vehicle crossings over footways and verges (Highways Act 1980, Section 184 Licence) – £218
We will also be making a number of improvements to the way we process licences. They can now be applied for and paid for online – making it quicker and easier to work on the highway network.
Approval
Anyone who wants to make a driveway onto their property (a dropped kerb) will need approval from us as the Highway Authority. This approval takes the form of a Section 184 Licence.
Please contact your District Council Planning Department before you contact us, to find out if you need planning permission to create a vehicle access. If required, you must get this before you submit an application.
If the work requires piping, culverting or obstructs an ordinary watercourse, whether permanent or temporary, it is a legal requirement under section 23 of the Land Drainage Act to seek consent from the relevant authority.
You can find more information on our Consent to work on an ordinary watercourse page.
Anyone who wants to form an access which crosses a footway or a grass verge will need the approval of the Highway Authority and this approval takes the form of a Section 184 Licence.
If the access is onto an unclassified road, planning permission may not be required but the applicant should always check with their local District Council Planning Department.
Access to any other class of road requires planning permission.
To find out the classification of a road you need to contact the Road Records Section.
Your application
We ensure that accesses on to the highway are constructed in compliance with our safety standards and that the work is carried out by contractors accredited to work on the highway.
Please note: we cannot take responsibility for the availability of the accredited contractors to either undertake works or provide a service.
We will then send an acknowledgement letter to confirm your application. Please note you will not be able to start work until you have received a permit.
We will process your submitted application and either issue a permit where appropriate or explain a refusal.
Please note it is the Contractors responsibility to contact the local offices of Statutory Undertakers of any proposed work. They will contact you directly with details of measures they require to protect any of their apparatus which may be affected by your works.
The contractor will have to complete the work before a given expiry date. If the works have not been substantially completed before the expiry date, a new application must be made. A Section 184 Licence runs for three months.
We will inspect the works and issue a certificate of compliance on completion and make sure the works do not conflict with any other work planned in the same location by other contractors.