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Hello! Thank you in advance for any help/advice!
We recently moved home, and in our new garden we have a manhole/access hole, which sits around 20cm lower than the level of the backdoor/house. Due to water damage/erosion as well, this side of the garden is lower then the other side. We are hoping to find a way to create a box/frame and a lid to allow us to raise the level of soil around the manhole, whilst also making a lid so its a bit safer to walk around for our pets (currently have a cage/cover over it to stop them getting near it) and so it can still be accessed if the council needs to. In the photo below, you can see the level of soil needs to be at the level of the top sleeper of the retaining wall under the fence, so 20cm ish higher.
Has anyone had to deal with something like this before? Any advice on how we could go about it would be amazing! Thanks so much 
Lauren
Hello @LaurenAlicia
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your question about raising the edge and covering a manhole/access drain to the level of the garden soil.
My original suggestion to this question was not in accordance with existing regulations and I apologize for any inconvenience if you've come looking for answers. The correct recommendation should be to add more soil to the area so that it is level with the manhole access. The manhole should not be covered in any way as these drains are often part of a council-managed stormwater easement and need to remain accessible for maintenance and to allow for natural stormwater to flow.
If you need more advice or information, please let us know.
Eric
Hello @sushillch
Thank you for that observation, I will be amending my answer to this query. Technically you are not allowed to cover the drain as it is part of a stormwater system. These drains are often part of a council-managed stormwater easement and need to remain accessible for maintenance and to allow for natural stormwater flow. My apologies for the inconvenience, I can only suggest placing some Fountain Products 697 x 425 x 655mm Raised Garden Bed around the drain to prevent others from walking into it but still allow water to flow through.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
