IT SEEMS that many homeowners in the Bass Coast Shire simply don’t know the rules about nature strips.
It's a common problem elsewhere as well.
That’s certainly the case if the amount of landscaping that’s going on, right across the shire, between property boundaries and roadways, is any indication.
And despite voting in favour of an updated Local Law, at its July 2022 council meeting, restating the rules about what residents can and can’t do with the nature strips in front of their homes, it seems the councillors don’t know the rules either.
It also appears, that beyond policing applications for new crossovers (driveways), and fining people for parking their cars backwards on residential roads, or over the footpath on their driveways, council’s Local Laws officers aren’t doing anything about the rules either.
The result is an absolute shemozzle, right across the shire, of illegal landscaping, with new plantings of trees and shrubs on busy corners, retaining walls, rockeries, even fishponds being built across nature strips, some developing into impassible jungles, defying pedestrians, the placement of weekly rubbish bins and access to powerlines and other utilities.
No one has added a concrete birdbath or fountain to their nature strip designs but that may only be a matter of time.
The ignorance or flagrant disregard for the law is allowing residents building new homes to completely denude their own sites of trees and vegetation and construct right up to the boundary, with only the minimum setback (or not even), relying on landscaping of the nature strip out front for shade and relief.
In fact, it’s clear some new or upgraded residential projects are incorporating complementary landscaping of the nature strip into the overall design, extending private pathways and plantings out on to the public area, and to hell with neighbours and pedestrians.
Take a look yourself at what’s going on in the Bass Coast burbs.
For the record: A permit is required if you want to plant or remove any vegetation from the nature strip.
And the placement of ornamental rocks, for example, is strictly prohibited.
Here are the rules governing nature strips, from “Local Law No. 1 Neighbourhood Amenity 2022”, updated for the first time in a decade by the shire council, and unanimously adopted at the July 2022 council meeting - Nature Strips:
(1) An owner or occupier of private property must ensure that the grass on the nature strip adjacent to or otherwise referable to that land is: (a) Maintained in a neat and tidy condition; and (b) Does not contain grass exceeding 300mm in height.
(2) A person must not, without a permit: (a) Plant or remove vegetation from a nature strip or undertake any landscaping on a nature strip, road or municipal place; or (b) Remove soil from a nature strip, road or municipal place.
(3) When assessing and determining an application for a permit under this clause 31, regard will be had to Council’s Guidelines for Planting in Nature Strips, which are incorporated into this Local Law.
According to these guidelines, the primary purposes of nature strips are to provide:
- Safe areas for pedestrians that may include footpaths
- Space for power/light poles and for underground services including electricity, gas, water, phones, etc.
- A place for the collection of household garbage and recycling.
- Visibility for motorists and pedestrians at intersections, driveways and curves in the road
Your nature strip, according to the guidelines, is the Council managed land between your property boundary and the road. Nature strips form part of the road reserve. While they are generally under the management responsibility of councils, property owners typically mow the nature strip lawns that may be in front of their property.
If residents apply for a permit to plant, and there’s little indication that they do, there are strict rules about what can be planted and where.
Typical requirements for a permit to be issued:
- Primary purpose of nature strip is maintained.
- Access and visibility for vehicles and pedestrians is maintained.
- Typical vegetation clearances are 0.75m to 1.2m from the back of kerb or open drain by negotiation based on speed and frequency of traffic (safety) or 0.9m from the property line where there is no footpath, or 0.3m from the footpath (where there is one), boundary lines and driveways.
- Ground vegetation is less than 750mm in height
- Existing vegetation is protected.
- Hazardous features are avoided like rocks, pavers, edging, planter boxes, stakes, nets and irrigation systems.
- Access is retained to footpaths, drainage and underground services.
Bass Coast's 'Urban Forest Strategy'
Possibly confusing the issue is the Bass Coast Shire Council’s new ‘Urban Forest Strategy’, adopted at the May 2023 meeting of council, however while the strategy calls for an increase in trees and vegetation “across townships, predominantly in new developments, in parks, on nature strips, around sports grounds and along main shopping strips” and also on private property, the strategy also aims to regulate and better manage its urban forest areas.
“This Strategy will plan how we will continue to grow and look after our urban forest. So, while we will focus on protecting our existing vegetation cover and improving connectivity by planting along streets and in parks, our private land (residential gardens and commercial precincts) also plays a critical role in nurturing our urban forests. Everyone can help grow our urban forest and enjoy the many benefits trees and shrubs provide.
“Our Urban Forest is one of the most efficient and cost-effective mechanisms for adapting our region to climate change.”
So, while the shire is looking to encourage the planting of more trees and vegetation in urban areas, it’s not a free-for-all.
Nature strip landscaping should not force pedestrians out on to busy roads or reduce sight lines for road users, and should not reduce access for rubbish collection or hamper maintenance of powerlines and utilities.
The placement of rocks as part of landscaping on nature strips is not allowed.
And a permit is required “to plant or remove vegetation from a nature strip or to undertake any landscaping.”
Councillors were asked to comment on the issue of unregulated nature strip landscaping but weren’t aware it was a problem.
The word from within the shire is that while they regulate driveways, they only manage nature strips when there’s a complaint.
