Porous pavers and soft landscaping requirements

Most - if not all - councils in Australia have strict guidelines regarding how much of any potential development, be it residential, industrial or otherwise, must be ‘soft landscaped’. Soft landscaping is usually defined as a private open space that is vegetated. Lawns, flowerbeds and hedges constitute soft landscapes, while houses, sheds, paved areas and pools do not.

So how much of an area needs to be soft landscaped? This answer varies from council to council – some require minimal soft landscaping, others (often more affluent suburbs) have greater expectations. Let’s take Lane Cove in NSW as an example. Their minimum soft landscaping requirements are as follows:

Single, dual and attached dwellings: 35%

Residential flat buildings: 25%

Motels: 50%

Industrial blocks: 20%

Being a relatively affluent area Lane Cove, sits at the upper end of the average minimums, but even so these minimums might seem surprisingly high to some. While greenery is obviously vitally important, the standard Australian block is getting smaller and smaller, meaning that space is at a premium. Ideally you want your soft landscaping to serve multiple purposes. Enter porous pavers.

Porous pavers essentially offer soft landscaping with backbone. A grid made of recycled plastics, they are laid over a soft landscaped surface, be it lawn, gravel or even just soil, evenly dispersing the weight of anything that jumps, walks or rolls over the top of it. This means that areas that would have previously been inadvisable to soft landscape are able to handle wear and tear far better.

By using porous driveway pavers leading up to your garage or car port you can make a serious dent into the minimum soft landscaping requirements of your property, utilising a space that was previously impossible to soft landscape. You can allow grass to grow through the porous pavers or simply fill the grid with gravel or decorative rocks. This area can then serve as a hard landscape, while still complying with the requirements of your local council.

But the porous paved soft landscape options don’t stop there. Those that live in an area with an underrepresentation of car parks can turn their lawns into a park. Heavily worn areas of grass can be reinforced, protected from pets and kids that run over certain patches continuously.

For any property owner that may struggle to meet their soft landscaping requirements, porous pavers offer a fantastic option.