Council owns land for a variety of public purposes including for health, education, community services, sports and recreation.
We also own land to protect our natural environment or heritage value in the form of parks or reserves.
The need for Council to own land can change over time in response to demand for public services, changes in population, or new policy priorities. When this happens, some land may become surplus to Council needs.
Our Sale of Surplus Land Policy 2019 (DOCX 52.1KB) establishes how we review, identify and evaluate the existence of land, including land containing capital improvements, which is surplus to requirements.
This policy does not apply to land having the legal status of “road”.
In contrast, our Land Acquisition Policy provides a basis to guide decision-making about the acquisition of land by Council, where there is an identified need for municipal purposes.