If you're paving the front garden, pick a surface rain can soak through, like gravel or permeable block paving. Do that and a new or replacement driveway of any size needs no planning permission. Cover more than five square metres with a hard surface water can't get through, and you will need it.
Solid paving can still go ahead without permission if its rainwater runs onto a lawn or border and drains away there. Whichever you pick, I'd plan the drive so rain soaks away in the garden, not onto the road. Paved-over front gardens add to local flooding, because the rain runs straight into drains that can't cope. Lay it with a slope away from the house, and keep any soakaway well clear of the foundations.
Permeable paving needs sandy or gravelly ground underneath, not clay, and a steep drive may not suit it. A dropped kerb always needs the council's permission first, through a separate application. Make the parking space deep enough that your car doesn't hang over the pavement.
Choosing a surface rain can soak through can save you a planning application altogether. Ring me while you're still deciding, ideally before you apply to drop the kerb. I run Wilsonjones Landscapes and lay paving across Wilmslow, so I can tell you whether your ground suits permeable paving and where your rain will go. Have a look at my Paving and Patios page, then send me a message.
