• A
• A+

What is the difference between a public road and a private road?

A public road is a road where ownership in vested in the Council or in Land Transport New Zealand and is therefore available for public use.
There are many formed roads that may look a lot like public roads, but that is not always the case. For example, in urban areas rights-of-way and jointly-owned access-ways may have wide, sealed surfaces and have street names and signs- but are actually in private ownership and may not necessarily be freely available for public use.
A private road is an access across privately-owned property which the public may or may not be allowed to use at the discretion of the legal owner(s).

What is the difference between a legal road and a paper road?

None! Whether it’s physically formed or just a line on a map it is still classified a public road. Where an Act of Parliament, statute or regulation, refers to a "road", it makes no difference whether it is formed or not.

A "paper" road is simply a legal road that has not been formed, or is only partly formed. It may be a walking track or just two wheel ruts in the ground – but it is still legal and members of the public have every right to walk or drive on it. Legally it is public land.

There’s a paper road through my property, people are using it and trespassing onto my land – what can I do?

People have the right to use a paper road for walking, biking or any legitimate activity. It is the adjoining landowner’s responsibility to define the boundaries of their land, fence it, or otherwise signpost it to keep people off their property. If the landowner has already defined the boundaries and people continue to cross onto the property, the owner has recourse to the Trespass Act.

NOTE: Territorial authorities such as the Council are exempt from the provisions of the Fencing Act 1978 (i.e. the requirement to meet half the cost of fencing boundaries) where private land adjoins a public road.

I want access to my property – will the Council form the road for me?

Local authorities are bound by statute law which sets out what may or may not be done.
Section 319 of the Local Government Act 1974 (now incorporated into the Local Government Act 2002) covers the general powers of Councils in respect to roads.
This legislation gives Councils the power to construct, upgrade and repair roads- but this is a discretionary power. It does not compel a Council to construct and maintain carriageways on legal roads within their District.

Public roads and paper roads are shown on cadastral and District Plan maps. In the Far North there are approximately 2500 kilometres of legal roads which are shown on maps but are not maintained by the Council. There is no legal obligation to form or maintain any of these roads.

In certain circumstances, and subject to conditions, where the Council has chosen not to construct a carriageway on an unformed legal road, or has chosen not to maintain an existing carriageway, the Council may permit private citizens to fund the construction and/or maintenance of a carriageway themselves. Each case is considered on its merits and may be subject to conditions. However it is not often that the Council would refuse such a request unless there are circumstances under which this may not be in the best interests of the wider community.

What We Inherited

In 1989, when Local Body amalgamation occurred and six Councils (four Counties and two Boroughs) were amalgamated into the new Far North District Council, the new District Council inherited a roading network comprising the following:

• Carriageways which traditionally were maintained at public expense
• Some carriageways which traditionally had not been maintained
• Many unformed legal roads (“paper” roads) existing in a legal sense but without any carriageways.

The new Council decided it would continue to maintain the same carriageways as those maintained by the former Councils, but would not necessarily start maintaining others. Neither would it necessarily construct new carriageways on unformed roads.

Under what circumstances will the Council consider taking over maintenance responsibilities?

Situations in which the Council may accept ongoing maintenance responsibilities, once the road has been brought up to standard, include:-

• Where a road is within a legally defined public road reserve
• The road has been formed to an appropriate standard for the expected use, at no cost to the Council
• There is no alternative access available
• The proposed road will provide access for five or more properties not already serviced by an existing legal road.

Where these conditions can be met, the Council will assume ongoing maintenance responsibilities from the first intersection with an existing legal road to the nearest boundary of the last property requiring access

Can I erect a gate across the road?

On application, the Council has the ability to allow a gate to be erected under the Local Government Act 2002, subject to conditions including signage and a requirement that the gate must not be locked. When consent is granted, it is at the pleasure of the Council i.e. the Council can cancel the consent at any time and require the gate to be removed. The Council also has the right to refuse a request.
Where a gate has been erected, with our consent, we will no longer be responsible for the maintenance of that road beyond the gate. The Council will assume responsibility for maintenance again after the gate has been removed and the road has been reformed and brought back to an appropriate standard at no cost to the Council.

Need to know more?

For further information enquiries should be directed through our normal contact details.