Council retains land for a number of strategic purposes, including road reserves, community and recreational needs, public open space, parks and gardens, environmental protection, and service provisions.
Our obligations under legislation
Council has obligations under the Local Government Act 2020 which sets out legislative requirements for the sale and exchange of Council-owned land. Council is also obliged to adhere to the Local Government Best Practice Guidelines for the sale, exchange & transfer of land (Dept Planning and Community Development - June 2009).
Our procedure
Information about the procedure Council follows when selling minor parcels of land can be found in our Factsheet - Sale of minor parcels of Council owned land(PDF, 268KB).
This factsheet only applies to land that is assessed as a minor land parcel, which is a parcel of land which cannot be sold on the open market as an individual lot. Minor parcels of land will only be considered as surplus, if assessed as being no longer reasonably required by Council.
Sale by private treaty
There may be circumstances where it is appropriate to sell or exchange land by private treaty, as referenced in the Local Government Best Practice Guidelines, considerations being:
- the nature of land that is proposed for sale/exchange; and
- how the proposed sale/exchange is initiated, eg often it is an external person who has initiated discussions with the council with regard to the sale/exchange of land, that will determine if a sale/exchange by private treaty is appropriate.
The nature/type of land may include:
- rear laneways and rights-of-way
- disused/closed roads
- allotments in inappropriate subdivisions.
Other information
Refer to the ‘Actions affecting Council land’ section in Council's Local Laws which states that a person must not, without a permit, occupy or fence off any part of the Council land.
Costs
The cost to purchase Council land will vary.
Should your application progress, a member of the Property and Facilities team will contact you to discuss costs.
How to apply
What happens next?
Once your online application is received, it will be assessed by a member of our Property and Facilities team, who will be in contact should any further information be required.