Purchasing Council property

Darebin City Council (Council) is committed to ensuring that our property portfolio continues to meet our service delivery requirements, now and into the future. Council has a property portfolio of minor and major property assets encompassing 59,000 hectares

Most ROWs were created over 80 years ago as part of original land subdivisions. Over time, the use of ROWs and the need for them can change temporarily or permanently.

As community needs, expectations and our service delivery requirements change over time, some of these property assets are no longer required. They may no longer be used for their original purpose or no longer provide benefit to the community. In these situations, Council‘s property assets may be considered unnecessary or surplus for our future needs and could potentially be discontinued and sold to adjoining property owners.

Council has obligations under a range of legislative and regulatory frameworks, including the Local Government Act 2020, for the sale and exchange of Council-owned land. We are also guided by the Local Government Best Practice Guideline for the Sale and Exchange of Land (2009).

Purchasing Minor Council Property Assets

Minor Council Property Assets include roads, reserves, revenge strips, hiatus and other pieces of land of unusual shape and/or limited usefulness that are less than 200m² in area. Information about the process we undertake for the Sale of Minor Council Property Assets can be found in our Sale of Minor Council Property Assets Policy(PDF, 342KB).

A step by step summary is also included below.

Process Stage	Detail
Initiation	An application enquiry is submitted by a resident (an abutting property owner), to determine if the road is suitable for discontinuation and no longer required for public use.
Public Use Test	the nature and extent of the present and past use of the road. the likelihood of the road being required for ongoing and future use, both vehicle and pedestrian. Section 12 of the Road Management Act 2004;
Review	The application is reviewed, and due diligence is undertaken. This includes verifying the ownership of the road and assessing the impact of discontinuation.
Consultation	Consultation is conducted with all necessary internal Council departments and Statutory Authorities regarding the sale. This includes gathering information on required easements.
Engagement	The Council engages with abutting property owners to establish their support. This includes sending letters to the property owners, conducting meetings if necessary, and documenting their responses.
Review of Consultation and Engagement outcomes	The results of the consultation and engagement are reviewed and if a discontinuance and sale is possible the application will progress to the next stage.
Valuation	A market valuation of the land is obtained by a qualified property valuer appointed by the Council. The valuation is based on the current market rates, location, and size of the land.
Offer	Letter of Offer(s) are sent to abutting property owners seeking commitment to purchase. The offer includes the valuation price, terms and conditions of the sale, and a deadline for response.
Recommendation	A Council report is tabled recommending discontinuation and sale of the road. The report documents the process undertaken and recommends the commencement of the statutory process.
Notice	A Public Notice is given both in the newspaper and published on the Council website. A copy of the public notice and explanatory letter are sent to property owners/occupiers of all nearby properties along with other people who may be impacted.
Hearing of Submissions	Any submissions are heard at a public Hearing of Submissions meeting in response to the above notices. If no submissions are received a Council report is tabled as per the below step.
Decision	A Council report is tabled documenting any objections or submissions from the public notice. The Council reviews all submissions and the report before deciding.
Gazetting	Council publishes a notice in the Government Gazette to formalise the discontinuance.
Sale	The land is sold to the abutting property owners. Council formalises written sale agreement and lodges instruments to transfer to purchaser.

Rights of way, laneways

If you are interested in purchasing a right of way or another Minor Council Property Asset, complete the below form:

Purchase of Right of Ways is assessed on a case by case basis.
No guarantee can be given about the outcome of any application.
Note: you will need supporting documents such as plans and photographs showing your property and the right of way.

Apply to purchase right of way

More information

Email: Property.Services @darebin.vic.gov.au

Apply to purchase Right of Way

Before you begin

To complete the application, you will need:

address of the property adjacent to the discontinuation
owners details if you are applying on behalf of an owner
a map or plan showing the proposed discontinuation and any access points or gates for vehicles and pedestrians
evidence that the proposed discontinuation is not reasonably required for public use (for example, photographs or aerials)
evidence that bordering property owners and occupiers support the proposal

About the process

Council has the power under the Local Government Act 2020 to discontinue a right of way/road and sell the resultant land to adjoining property owners at market value.

Discontinued land will only be sold to adjoining owners where their land borders Council land.

With regards to road discontinuance requests, Council will only discontinue the whole or a significant section of the right of way, rather than a small section at a time due to the lengthy process involved. Council’s processing time for ROW applications can take up to 24 months to complete – from the date of lodgement. Council is currently processing a large backlog of ROW applications, therefore the above time frame could be exceeded for some applications.

Any discontinuance request that creates a landlocked parcel of land will not be considered. Darebin City Council reserves the right to manage, discontinue, retain or dispose of any road, right of way or reserve at it’s sole discretion.