Wheatlands' homes and streets
Wheatlands sits at Redcar's southern edge, with Redcar Lane, Redcar Road and the Mickle Dales roundabout on its edges and the A174 to the south. Many of its cul-de-sacs carry the names of coastal towns: Sheerness Way, Salcombe Way, Torcross Way and Holyhead Drive among them, alongside Cranbourne Drive, Greenstones Road and Kirkwood Drive. Wheatlands Park, entered from Redcar Lane, and Wheatlands Primary School are both local landmarks.
The 2021 Census sets Wheatlands apart from the rest of Redcar. The Wheatlands ward had 2,080 households, of which 67% were detached, 25% semi-detached, 4% terraced and 3% flats. 85% were owner-occupied, the highest of any Redcar ward. Only 5% of households had no car or van, while 59% had two or more.
Typical Wheatlands drives:
- Block-paved drives laid when the houses were built, now showing ruts, dips in the wheel tracks or weeds in the joints.
- Drives for two cars that families now need to stretch to three, often by paving part of the front lawn.
- Open-plan fronts, where lawns run between neighbours with no wall or hedge.
- Garages that have been converted or used for storage, pushing more cars onto the drive.
Ground and drainage
The British Geological Survey maps Wheatlands on glacial till, a dense clay, over Redcar Mudstone. Many sunken drives on clay estates come down to a thin or poorly compacted sub-base. When re-laying, the fix is to lift the blocks, dig out soft spots, rebuild with compacted Type 1 on a membrane, then re-lay on fresh sharp sand with new edge restraints.
The Environment Agency's flood map shows Wheatlands in Flood Zone 1, with no river or sea flood zone mapped within a kilometre of the ward centre. Surface water on clay is still worth planning for: keep a fall away from the house and give water somewhere to go, such as a lawn, a border or a soakaway designed for clay.
Permissions to check
Planning. Wheatlands has no conservation area. For a house, extending a drive with a permeable surface, or one that drains to the garden, is permitted development. More than five square metres of impermeable surface draining to the road needs planning permission.
Deeds and covenants. Some newer estates have restrictive covenants on open-plan front gardens, such as limits on walls or hedges. Check your deeds before changing the layout.
The crossing. If a wider drive needs a wider opening, Redcar and Cleveland Council must approve the extended dropped kerb. Its online form is for the property owner, and the council explains that crossings protect the footway and vehicles. It publishes no fee on that page. Our Redcar dropped kerb guide explains what to expect.
Re-laying and extending a Wheatlands drive
A double drive in Wheatlands is often 35 to 50m², and many were laid in block paving when the houses were built. Where the blocks are sound but the drive has dipped, lifting them, rebuilding the base and re-laying the same blocks usually makes more sense than a new surface. Extending in matching blocks works well too, as long as the new ones come from the same range and colour.
Re-laying is labour-heavy, so the work depends on how much of the base needs rebuilding. Widening the crossing comes on top, and Redcar and Cleveland Council's assessment sets that price. For a sunken drive, start with driveway repairs; for a full change, compare block paving with resin.
Nearby areas
- West Dyke: to the north, with owner-occupied semis and detached homes.
- Kirkleatham: to the west, a larger ward of mixed housing.
- Zetland: to the north-east towards the coast, with inter-war semis.
All our areas are on the areas page.
Questions people ask in Wheatlands
Why has my Wheatlands block paving sunk in the wheel tracks?
On clay ground, ruts usually point to a thin or poorly compacted sub-base. Re-sanding the joints will not fix that. The lasting fix is to lift the blocks, rebuild the base with compacted stone on a membrane and re-lay them.
Can I extend my drive to fit a third car?
For a house, yes, if the new area is permeable or drains to the garden. If the opening also needs to be wider, apply to Redcar and Cleveland Council to extend the dropped kerb. Check your deeds for open-plan covenants first.
Can new blocks be matched to my existing drive?
Often, if the same manufacturer's range is still made. Older blocks weather, so new ones can look brighter for a year or two. Using new blocks at the front and re-laid ones elsewhere, or a contrasting border, helps.
Is resin a good idea over old block paving?
Resin bound needs a sound, stable base. It is not laid directly over loose blocks; usually the blocks come up and a suitable base, such as open-graded tarmac, goes down first.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Wheatlands ward (TS044, TS045, TS054 via Nomis); postcodes.io (ONS Postcode Directory): TS10 2SN, TS10 2PG; BGS Geology Viewer, 1:50,000; Environment Agency flood map for planning; Redcar and Cleveland Council: dropped kerbs; GOV.UK: permeable surfacing of front gardens.