Coolum, 4573, climbs. The streets behind the beach rise quickly towards Mount Coolum, and the suburb’s driveways split into two families: flat sandy runs near the beach that pour easily, and hillside driveways a street or three back that need their grades, grip and drainage engineered before anyone talks finishes. Knowing which family a block belongs to is the first thing settled at the site measure.
Two grounds in one postcode
The flat streets sit on coastal sand, quick draining and simple to base properly. The hill streets carry shallower soils over rock in places, with real fall across the block; those driveways get their crossfall and drain positions drawn first, because a Coolum storm cell will find every low point on a sloped slab. Both versions are routine for a crew that works this stretch of coast weekly.
Old shacks, new builds
Coolum’s stock runs from original beach shacks with their original concrete to knockdown rebuilds with three car frontages, so the work is an even mix of replacement, where forty year old slabs come out whole, and new pours on rebuilt blocks. On the steeper streets, broom finish and exposed aggregate surfaces take the grip question seriously; steel trowelled finishes stay flat ground only.
Coolum costs
The published rates apply, with slope priced honestly: sloped or tight access budgets 10 to 20 percent over the flat rate, and the calculator has that setting built in. Plain grey from $100 per m2, coloured $110 to $130, exposed aggregate finish $135 to $150, removal adding $35 to $45. The written price after a site measure does not move.
Sunshine Coast Council crossover rules in Coolum
Sunshine Coast Council runs a two tier crossover system. A standard crossover, one that ticks every box on the council’s own checklist, is self assessed: no permit, no fee, build it to the council’s drawings. A non standard crossover, wrong width or position, a corner lot, too close to a pit or a pole, needs the council’s written approval through an Operational Works application before any work starts, with an application fee the council resets each financial year.
Any new crossover or change to a crossover’s profile, surface, size or materials counts as construction under these rules, so replacements and widenings are covered, not just new builds. Urban crossovers are built to the council’s nominated IPWEA standard drawings in concrete, asphalt or bitumen; raised stamped patterns are not accepted. Clearances matter: crossovers keep their distance from stormwater pits, power poles, bus stops and street assets, and corner lots take access from their addressed street.
Requirements and fees are the council’s, and they change; whether your crossover is standard, and what any application costs, is confirmed in writing with your quote.
Driveways nearby
Peregian Beach, Maroochydore, Noosa. All 20 suburbs: where we pour.