Laneways under scrutiny by council

CITY of Ballarat has been involved with property owner disputes over access to three of the city’s laneways for over two years.

As a result councillors voted on Wednesday, 2 October in favour of a proposed process that would lead to all laneways in the city, created before 1988, being declared as public highways.

Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh said if there’s controversy about ownership of laneways, the municipality wants people to know there’s a way forward and the new policy is about clarifying the situation.

“An old laneway in dispute doesn’t necessarily allow for happy neighbourhoods,” she said.

A council declaration, under Section 24 of the Local Government Act 1989, of laneways as public highways, would deem undisputable, clear and decisive control over, and ownership of, the laneways to the city.

A public highway is land over which any member of the public has a legal right to come and go under common law.

“This policy is absolutely about minimising disruption,” Cr McIntosh said.

Not all the laneways in Ballarat are thoroughfares.

A significant number were built at the rear of properties to allow access to vehicles for the removal of night soil before the days of plumbed toilets.

“We are still allowing the opportunity for great collaboration between neighbours to come up with a shared way and if they can’t do that then we have a solution,” Cr McIntosh said.

Council will research and record all the laneways on a register before announcing by public notice the intent to declare them as public highways but was unable to clarify how long the entire process would take.

Cr McIntosh said the issue takes up a lot of time for council officers, creates heartache for property owners, and takes a lot of expense to go through the legal process.

“What we want to do is ultimately minimise the dispute, unnecessary costs and create an outcome that will allow the neighbours to have a happier relationship,” she said.

“If property owners are unable to agree on a solution to their dispute then the purpose of this is so that we can have an outcome.”

Under Schedule 11 Clause 5 of the Local Government Act 1989, the city could have the legal right to remove any fencing, gating or obstruction within a road reserve.

Adverse possession claims cannot be made once a laneway is declared as a public highway.

The city has chosen not to name the laneways which are currently under dispute and caused a shift in policy.