The Policy ensures that all land that is reasonably required is retained, open and available to the public and that land not reasonably required is appropriately managed or disposed of. This reduces Council’s long term financial and legal liability for land that is no longer required and provides an opportunity for adjoining property owners to obtain title to the land.

The Policy is scheduled to be reviewed every four years and was last reviewed in 2018 with minimal changes.

Council is required in accordance with the Road Management Act 2004 to establish a Register of Public Roads which includes the roads, right of ways and laneways that it manages. A ‘road’ noted on a title plan is also considered to be a Council owned and maintained road.

Council has the authority to discontinue a road/part of road and sell it to a third party or retain it for municipal purposes in accordance with the Local Government Act 1989. Under the Subdivision Act 1988, Council can also initiate procedures to remove the drainage reserve status from a piece of land and have Council's legal ownership of the land formally recorded. Once completed, Council can either retain the land or sell it to a third party.

Land that is determined to be required for its original purpose as a road, right of way or drainage reserve is to remain in its current state. Council may also retain land that has other strategic value for our community.

The draft Policy also considers land which could be retained for incorporation into adjacent public land, for example to be converted into a habitat corridor or island through supplementary planting or to support planting of vegetation that promotes biodiversity.

• Council may retain land to support environmental objectives for example to be incorporated into adjacent public land, converted into a habitat corridor or island through supplementary planting or to support planting of vegetation that promotes biodiversity.
• The requirement of regular, on-going vehicular access for a road/right of way to be deemed required for public access. Pedestrian access that can otherwise be achieved via other access points and occasional vehicular access such as trailer access will no longer (on their own) be sufficient reasons for a right of way/road to remain accessible for the public.
• The draft Policy takes a more assertive position regarding illegal occupation of land. This includes the option to: Council to remove the obstruction and any encroachments at the encroachers cost, the ability for the encroacher to enter into discussions to purchase the land, option to lease the land from Council and Council to have the right to place a notation of the subject lands Land Information Certificate.
• The previous Policy provided a consideration of a 50% discount of the market value if 15 years or longer exclusive occupation of the land could be demonstrated. This has been extended to include land not capable of being reinstated for further public use, is not vested in the ownership of any Government body and other criteria determined at the discretion of the Director of Corporate Services.

Yes. In the initial stage of the process, we send letters to all adjoining property owners that may be affected by the proposed sale of land to find out more about how the land is currently being used and gauge potential interest in purchasing the land.

When this investigation and process is complete, community engagement with the wider Bayside community is undertaken to seek feedback of the proposal, in accordance with the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with the Property Strategy, Council will pursue identified sites for acquisition with the aim to increase public open space in Bayside.

The draft policy ensures that the net revenue achieved from the sale of discontinued roads or former reserves will be held in a fund to be used for the development of Council’s land holdings or the purchase of additional land for open space.