If you need to close off (without excavating) any part of a road reserve, car park or laneway owned by Council, you will need a Temporary Road Occupation Permit.

If you are excavating the road reserve (includes footpath and naturestrip), you need a Work Within Road Reserve Consent instead.

You might need to close part of a road reserve, car park or laneway if:

• you are completing works such as crane works, concrete pours and facade works
• you are filming
• you are hosting a community event.

A Temporary Road Occupation permit is a short term permit.

When you have this permit, you will have to pack up and reopen the road, laneway or car park at the end of each day.

Whose permission do you need to close a road?

Not all roads in Merri-bek are owned by Council.

VicRoads owns and maintains all freeways and most arterial roads in Victoria. An arterial road is a main road in an urban area that experiences a high volume of traffic. If you need to close one of these roads, you will need to contact VicRoads to see if you need a permit.

We own all other streets and laneways in Merri-bek.

You can contact us to find out if the road you want to close is owned by us or VicRoads.

You can also search the Maps of Declared Roads for any road within Victoria to find out if the road is a freeway, arterial road or a municipal road.

Temporary Road Occupation permit fees

A Temporary Road Occupation costs:

$358 if the application is lodged more than 4 days before works commence, or

$1000 if less than 4 working days notice is provided.

If you need to use an off-street parking bay while completing your works/holding your event, it will cost:

• $20 per bay per day if they are required for one week or less, and
• $36 per bay per week if bays are required for longer.

Apply for a Temporary Road Occupation permit

Before applying for a Temporary Road Occupation permit, make sure you have:

• a Traffic Management Plan
• a copy of your public liability insurance to the value of at least $10 million
• a copy of the letter to residents who will be affected by the closure (you can use our resident notification letter template (DOC 23Kb)
• the date(s) and times the closure will occur, and
• details of who we should send the invoice for payment to, including the ABN.

You will need to be a registered user to apply for a Temporary Road Occupation Permit. It can take up to 2 business days for your account to become active. If you are not registered your application will not be accepted.

If you are not a registered user, please use the following link to register now:

User Registration

Once you have all the information you need, you can:

• Registered users may apply online
• apply in person by bringing all your documents to the Merri-bek Civic Centre, 90 Bell Street, Coburg.

It takes 4 working days to process an application. After it is processed, we will let you know the outcome.

Whether or not we approve your application will based on the traffic management principles in the Road Management Act 2004.

Other permits for temporary closures

Depending on what kind of work or event you need your Temporary Road Occupation permit for, you may also need:

• a Community event permit if you are planning a community event
• a Work Within Road Reserve Consent if you are excavating within the road reserve
• a Vehicle Crossing permit if you are building a vehicle crossing

Apply online for a Temporary Road Occupation Permit