This looks great! We are looking to add a garage the same design as this on our home. Do these forward/outward style garages with the house at the back have a particular name? I have been trying to google garage pics like this for inspiration but not sure what to search for

They obviously won't remove the existing lane crossover, but I'd bet they'd never allow you to extend it across your frontage as you've proposed, regardless of any surrounding precedent examples. You have to look at it from the policy intent, and that is to preserve the original character of the street, which when it was developed was not having car parking. There is a deeper issue of general planning/building policy misalignment. We've spent decades dealing with the fine discrepancies between say the blanket Rescode provisions (that enforces car parking provisions for development) and then Heritage policy that discourages it in a way which almost becomes impossible to achieve practically and is at odds with the "standards". This is just one example....but it highlight how confusing/contradictory all this stuff can be and ultimately you require the assistance of seasoned professionals with the understanding and experience across multiple layers of policy and practicality in order to successfully negotiate design solutions and actually achieve something that can be built. It's tricky business.....best of luck! Cheers PD

Hi all, we have a huge front yard, approximately 350sqm with some beautiful trees. But that’s where it ends. We live close to the beach and have fairly sandy soil, plus poor drainage and our garage is the lowest point on our block which floods frequently. We have consulted a plumber and landscape architect to help us with our yard. But we are still unsure of how to 1. Best tackle the drainage issues? (We have no storm water in our area so a few soaker pits will be needed) 2. Installing water tanks which don’t stand out too much? 3. A new driveway and car port? 4. Bringing the front yard back to life? And most importantly we don’t want to detract from our home and it’s style. We are very keen to get as much advice as possible. I’ve added a few photos of our garden and house! Thankyou

Is that blue line a proposed new footpath ? Probably 95% of all foot traffic is you ( the dwellers ) so that is a lot of work for something that is basically a backwards step -- a bit better for visitors , but its you carrying groceries and sports gear etc , and you'd have to walk further . And having 2 footpaths would be weird ( if that's what you are considering ) -- I guess you could get give way signs and traffic lights installed on it haha ? The actual driveway is wide , theres a parking bay to the right of the double garage , so why take up even more space ? Like oklouise says , you could do a double entrance , come in on the new circular part of the driveway with the boat on , drive back towards the road , try and straighten up before you get back to the street , and then what ? Oh yeah , back back . So you spend $20k and back 4 metres less ? Or you back in from the road and save $20k ? Or you buy or build a little 'dolly trolley' -- 2 or 3 little tyres and a towball mounted on a trolley to make pushing easier ? You can even buy ratchet ones that make it possible to back uphill with no car ( mainly designed for caravans I think , but work on any trailer hitch ) or even an electric motorised version .