Melbourne’s open spaces, parklands, wide roads and boulevards make it one of the world’s most liveable cities. It is Council’s role to ensure these advantages are maintained through effective planning controls.
While setbacks are traditionally imposed on residential buildings to enhance open spaces, modern development trends have seen an increase in proposals that include private encroachments or projections into public spaces.
Besides the loss of public space, these private encroachments can pose problems such as poor drainage, street obstructions and long term safety risks. They can also diminish Council’s ability for good governance and increase liability risks for Council and the public.
Encroachments therefore must be carefully assessed and controlled, to ensure appropriate and sustainable development that is in the best interests of the public.
The Road Encroachment Operational Guidelines aim to explain the process Council uses to permit and regulate encroachments and projections into the road space.
The guidelines detail the responsibilities of applicants seeking permission for encroachments and projects into the road space.
They also outline when various internal Council departments may need to be consulted. This ensures that projects which are supported at the planning stage ultimately obtain Council’s consent at the construction phase.
The guidelines include:
- Council consent required
- statutory requirements
- procedural matters
- public interest criteria
- management principle
- approval of projections or encroachments projections and encroachments exempt from agreements or licence fees
Road Encroachment guidelines (PDF, 784kb)