A driveway for a house in Toowoomba is generally accepted development, which means no approval is required if the requirements are met. That extends to dual occupancies, bed and breakfast accommodation and home-based businesses.
The catch is the list of situations that take you out of accepted development. Checked 15 August 2026 against the council's Driveways page.
What disqualifies you
In a residential urban area, approval is not needed provided the driveway is none of the following:
| Situation | Distance |
|---|---|
| Road intersection with traffic signals | Within 25 m |
| Intersection in a commercial or industrial area, no signals | Within 20 m |
| Intersection in a community, residential or rural area, no signals | Within 10 m |
| Any infrastructure — signage, poles, street lights, manholes, gully pits, council assets | Within 1 m |
| Tree Protection Zone, as defined by AS 4970 | Within the zone |
Also excluded: a second access to the property, and a crossover to a road with bluestone kerbing.
Width by frontage
Width limits are tied to frontage. As the council lists them, a driveway is outside accepted development if it is on a lot with a frontage of 10 m or less; more than 4 m wide on a frontage between 10 m and 20 m; or more than 6 m wide on a frontage over 20 m.
The other conditions
An accepted residential crossover must also:
- Not require changing, moving or removing existing infrastructure — street trees, fire hydrants, water meters, manholes or gully pits
- Not sit next to a traffic island, speed control device, car parking bay, bus stop or other structure in the roadway
- Not require changes to existing kerbing or those structures in the road reserve
- Not require changes to existing footpath or verge profiles, including table drains
- Not be restricted by an access restriction strip or link reserve
- Not access an unformed road, or a road without kerb
- Be constructed from reinforced concrete, and be perpendicular to the road edge
The standards Toowoomba names
Unusually among the councils covered here, Toowoomba names the Australian Standard directly. Driveways in a residential urban area must be in line with:
- AS 2890.1 — Off Street Car Parking, and AS 2890.2 where relevant
- IPWEA Standard Drawing RSD-100-101 — Vehicle Crossing, Residential Driveways
- AS 4970 — Protection of Trees on Development Sites
RSD-100 and RSD-101 are the same IPWEA vehicle crossing drawings that appear elsewhere as RS-049 and RS-050 — the series carries both numbering systems, and councils cite whichever their documents were written against. The profile on those sheets is covered in the Gold Coast article.
Because AS 2890.1 is named directly, this is a case where which document applies has a clear answer — and where you will need a current copy of the standard rather than a summary of it.
Disclaimer
General information, not advice. Summarised from Toowoomba Regional Council's published Driveways page as at 15 August 2026, not reproduced, and it does not reproduce AS 2890.1 or AS 4970, which are copyright to Standards Australia. Accepted development conditions change and individual sites may differ. Confirm current requirements with Toowoomba Regional Council before designing or building.
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