Review Crown Road Management Policy 2023

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Consultation has now concluded.

Our existing Crown Road Management Policy is due for review. Crown Road reserves are road reserves that are vested in the Crown and are owned and managed by the State Government. Crown Lands is the road authority for all Crown Roads.

Background

Crown Roads were originally created last century to provide legal access to individual portions of land. Many of these roads remain unconstructed and are often fenced in to adjoining properties. They are often used to access properties and may have numerous properties relying on them for access.

Crown Lands do not maintain these roads and the maintenance burden falls to road users.

As a result of this, Council is often requested to take over the maintenance of the Crown road.

There are a number of triggers for Crown Lands to transfer Crown Roads to a local authority such as Council. The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s (DPIE) Administration of Crown Roads Policy outlines the criteria for a transfer to occur. Additionally, the Policy states "Although a Crown road transfer to council does not require consent, the department will consult with the affected council before processing a Crown road transfer. Each proposed road transfer will be considered on a case by case basis."

Council requires its own Crown Road Management Policy to participate in this process.

Crown Roads may initiate transfer of a road to Council for any of the following reasons:

  • Road works on the Crown road are proposed by someone other than the department, and those works require development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
  • Development consent has been granted by a council that requires use of the Crown road to service a traffic generating development.
  • The Crown road is required to be maintained to a standard specified as a condition of development consent.
  • The Crown road was constructed, has or is being maintained by a council to facilitate access, as part of its local road network, which may include drainage structures such as bridges or culverts.
  • Construction or upgrade of the Crown road is required to meet standards required by a Council.

Review

The Crown Road Management Policy has been reviewed and the following amendments are proposed by staff:

  • Clause 2.1 has been amended and clause 6.1 inserted to refer to section 152I of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW) and recognise that Crown Roads can be transferred to Council without its consent.
  • Clause 6.2 has been amended and clause 6.3 inserted to remove reference to Council ‘accepting’ Crown Roads only where certain conditions are met, and instead set out the circumstances in which Council will ‘support’ or ‘oppose’ a proposed transfer.

Removal of existing clause 6.1 which stated that Council "does not maintain, construct or upgrade crown roads that were not maintained by Council prior to 1 April 2018..." Instead, a new clause 6.6 has been added to reflect that Council will categorise former Crown Roads that have been transferred to Council, and maintain those roads, in accordance with the Unsealed Road Grading Policy.

Submissions on the draft policy are open until close of business Thursday 7 September 2023.

Submissions may be made:

Privacy: Submissions with the author’s name and contact details will be provided to Councillors for consideration. However, names and contact information will be removed when the submissions are included in public documents such as Council Business Papers.

Our existing Crown Road Management Policy is due for review. Crown Road reserves are road reserves that are vested in the Crown and are owned and managed by the State Government. Crown Lands is the road authority for all Crown Roads.

Background

Crown Roads were originally created last century to provide legal access to individual portions of land. Many of these roads remain unconstructed and are often fenced in to adjoining properties. They are often used to access properties and may have numerous properties relying on them for access.

Crown Lands do not maintain these roads and the maintenance burden falls to road users.

As a result of this, Council is often requested to take over the maintenance of the Crown road.

There are a number of triggers for Crown Lands to transfer Crown Roads to a local authority such as Council. The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s (DPIE) Administration of Crown Roads Policy outlines the criteria for a transfer to occur. Additionally, the Policy states "Although a Crown road transfer to council does not require consent, the department will consult with the affected council before processing a Crown road transfer. Each proposed road transfer will be considered on a case by case basis."

Council requires its own Crown Road Management Policy to participate in this process.

Crown Roads may initiate transfer of a road to Council for any of the following reasons:

  • Road works on the Crown road are proposed by someone other than the department, and those works require development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
  • Development consent has been granted by a council that requires use of the Crown road to service a traffic generating development.
  • The Crown road is required to be maintained to a standard specified as a condition of development consent.
  • The Crown road was constructed, has or is being maintained by a council to facilitate access, as part of its local road network, which may include drainage structures such as bridges or culverts.
  • Construction or upgrade of the Crown road is required to meet standards required by a Council.

Review

The Crown Road Management Policy has been reviewed and the following amendments are proposed by staff:

  • Clause 2.1 has been amended and clause 6.1 inserted to refer to section 152I of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW) and recognise that Crown Roads can be transferred to Council without its consent.
  • Clause 6.2 has been amended and clause 6.3 inserted to remove reference to Council ‘accepting’ Crown Roads only where certain conditions are met, and instead set out the circumstances in which Council will ‘support’ or ‘oppose’ a proposed transfer.

Removal of existing clause 6.1 which stated that Council "does not maintain, construct or upgrade crown roads that were not maintained by Council prior to 1 April 2018..." Instead, a new clause 6.6 has been added to reflect that Council will categorise former Crown Roads that have been transferred to Council, and maintain those roads, in accordance with the Unsealed Road Grading Policy.

Submissions on the draft policy are open until close of business Thursday 7 September 2023.

Submissions may be made:

Privacy: Submissions with the author’s name and contact details will be provided to Councillors for consideration. However, names and contact information will be removed when the submissions are included in public documents such as Council Business Papers.