According to 1 newcomers/new household in our road - the best type of Driveway is the Neighbours driveway - which is why they have set the long term residents against them. They regard everyone else's driveways as public property for their sole use. How 2 people need 3 cars and 2 works vehicles parked in the vicinity we all would love know.
But to answer the original question - 100mm or reinforced concrete or 150/200 mm of unreinforced concrete either on 100mm of compacted hardcore. That can be tarmac'd over. Only problem is the drainage in todays world.
Concrete will be either already cracked or about to crack. It's hard in terms of wear but as brittle as a biscuit. Any ground movement, even a couple of mm, will result in a crack.
You've already found out the downside of blocks, they flex well but allow weeds to flourish in the gaps.
IMO tarmac is the best compromise - it wears well, weeds can't grow through it but it can flex if the ground does move. A dip is vastly preferable to the smashed up shrapnel you end up with if concrete moves.
We have concrete, along with lots of cracks. It will eventually be replaced with tarmac on the main part and gravel (with proper edgings) on the less used part, because it's cheaper and you don't need to care about drainage.
Ask the council to fix the pavement first though. And sell whatever monster truck you must drive and buy a sensible car.
That pavement looks like one where I used to live, where the owner parked his own road-sweeping truck on his drive, I guess sometimes full of several tons of water.
Tarmac - all day. We had ours done years ago by a good company (Dawkes of Stafford) and don't regret a second of it. I did all the prep i.e. framed the perimeter with solid blue best soldier bricks and laid the MOT. Their guys came and added more MOT and compacted the drive with a big heavy vibrating roller. Base coat and wearing coat added, job done.
Ive seen loads of block driveways done around my village -using Marshall blocks mostly, after a couple of years they all fade and then the weeds start growing
decent tarmac looks good for many years and to be honest concrete done well looks good even if it does look atad functional
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below,
or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Please select a service and enter a location to continue...
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local