Most Southbourne properties sit on low-lying ground toward the tidal creeks of Chichester Harbour, so Block Paving here comes down to individual concrete or clay blocks laid on a compacted sub-base and locked together with a firm edge restraint. Southbourne’s own driveways are shaped by properties nearest the creek needing real attention to surface-water drainage, and tidal creek proximity toward Chichester Harbour. It is best suited to estate-standard frontages and anywhere individual-section repairability matters, though the edge restraint’s condition matters as much as the blocks themselves.
About Block Paving
Block paving is built from individual concrete or clay block units, each laid by hand into a bed of sharp sand over a properly compacted sub-base, in a pattern such as herringbone, basketweave or stalled stretcher bond, then vibrated in and jointed with kiln-dried sand. A firm edge restraint around the perimeter is what keeps the whole surface locked together under vehicle loading, so its condition matters as much as the blocks themselves. Because it is made of individual units, block paving can be lifted section by section for repairs or access to services below and re-laid, which is a genuine practical advantage over a single continuous surface. Joints do need periodic re-sanding, and block paving was the standard original specification on a great deal of estate housing built from the 1970s onward.
Best suited to: estate-standard driveways, properties wanting a specific pattern or colour, and anywhere repairability of individual sections matters
Less suited to: a fully seamless look with zero visible joints
Ground & property in Southbourne
Southbourne sits toward the tidal creeks of Chichester Harbour east of Emsworth, and properties nearest the creek genuinely need more thought given to surface-water drainage than those further inland. An older village core sits alongside later estate development, with the two following quite different briefs depending on proximity to the water.
Coastal / flood note: tidal creek proximity toward Chichester Harbour