Road Reserve Management

Let’s Talk Road Reserve Management Policy

Council have been working on streamlining policies and as part of this review the Roading Team have combined six different policy into one - The Draft Road Reserve Management Policy.

The six current policies include:

• Rural Seal Extension Policy
• Private Funding of Seal Extension Policy
• Formation of Unformed Roads Policy
• Road Reserves Fencing & Grazing Policy
• Stock Underpasses Policy
• Vehicle Crossings, Entranceway and Driveway Surfacing Materials Policy

When drafting the policy, additional roading functions that did not have formal policies in place were included to provide clarity and consistency. These include:

• Roadside berms – clarifying maintenance responsibilities for urban and rural berms as well as expectations for existing and potential trees and hedges
• Unformed legal roads (known as paper roads) – who’s responsibility for maintenance as well as criteria for occupation, formation, and stopping
• Road corridor use including storage – defining conditions for temporary use of the road
• Utilities – identifying how utilities should be installed in the road
• Work zone traffic management – setting requirements for safe traffic management.

When considering this draft policy the team had to carefully balance the level of service provided on our roading network with the financial implications for ratepayers. It is useful to note that any increase in the level of service will need to be met by an increase in rates.

The driver for this policy review is to ensure that the Council’s published policies remain current and relevant. Merging these policies helps to ensure an effective and efficient policy structure and helps to streamline the review process. Maintaining these policies separately over time is more resource intensive.

We want to hear from you about these proposed changes now included in the draft policy. Please complete the survey below or jump on the quick poll to let us know what you think by Thursday 7 September.