Drainage
Your Responsibilities as Property Owner:
Council is responsible for the maintenance of Council owned storm water drainage. This includes drains and pits within streets and designated easements on private property. Property owners are responsible for the maintenance of household drains up to and including the point where they connect into Council's drainage system - the Legal Point of Discharge (regardless of whether this point is within the private property boundary or in Council road reserve). Construction and maintenance of the driveway 'crossover' and culvert is also the responsibility of the property owner (for further information refer to Council's Road Management Plan).
Find the legal point of storm water discharge:
Legal Point of Discharge Request Form
You may need a legal point of discharge report when applying for a building permit. All new buildings are required to be connected to a Legal Point of Discharge for storm water, this is the point where storm water from your property discharges into a Council managed drain or the street kerb and channel. To find this location, you must apply for a report to be generated. We cannot provide this information verbally.
What the report will NOT show:
• the location of any internal property drainage or the existing legal point of discharge location. Existing private drainage on your property can be identified by engaging a qualified plumber to investigate the site.
• the as-constructed conditions of a drain; our drain details are a guide only. You must check the size, depth and offset of the drain on site and make sure the drain is not damaged
• details of storm water downpipes and where they go on the property. You should contact a plumber to find this information.
You can find general information about infrastructure under your property on the Dial Before You Dig web page. This is a free service.
Storm Water Drain Details (Depth, Size and Offset)
Plans showing additional information regarding the depth, size and offset of a Council storm water drain can be obtained for new or recent subdivisions through the Legal Point of Discharge application form. Should you require this information for an existing property or an older subdivision please contact Council to confirm whether the details are available.
Legal Point of Discharge Request Form
Works Within Council Road Reserve
You must receive consent for any works taking place within a Council road reserve. An application for a Works Within a Road Reserve Permit must be completed and the permit issued by Council before any work is commenced. You can learn more about working in a Council road reserve here.
Damaged Storm Water Pit Covers and Other Maintenance Requests
Please report damaged or broken drainage pit covers and concrete surrounds so that they can be made safe and repaired or replaced. It is helpful to report the exact location of the damaged drainage pit and to identify any service authorities that may be printed on the cover, such as Telstra, Barwon Water or PowerCor. Similarly, if you see any Council drainage that requires maintenance please report it for inspection - can use Council's Lodge a Request Form to do this.
Storm Water Run-off
Owners are required to accept natural overland flow from adjoining properties or public land and must not divert or redirect the flow from its natural path onto neighbouring properties. A downstream property owner must not erect any type of barrier that interferes with the path of storm water unless provision is made for the flow to discharge to an approved drainage system. If you are downstream, you must accept the ‘natural’ run-off onto your property. Council has no authority over disputes arising between property owners regarding the flow of storm water from private property. Advice and information can be sought from the Dispute Settlement Centre or from a solicitor.