Roads (Opening and Closing) Act 1991

This Act may be cited as the Roads (Opening and

Closing) Act 1991.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

agreement for exchange means an agreement between a council and another person for the exchange of land subject to a proposed road opening for land subject to a proposed road closure under which the land subject to the proposed road closure—

is to be transferred to that other person in fee simple;

or

is to be added to land held by that other person under a Crown lease or agreement to purchase, whether or not an amount is agreed to be paid for equality of exchange;

agreement to purchase means an agreement within the meaning of the Crown Lands

Act 1929;

agreement for transfer means an agreement (other than an agreement for exchange) between a council and another person under which land subject to a proposed road closure—

is to be transferred to that other person in fee simple;

or

is to be added to land held by that other person under a Crown lease or agreement to purchase, whether or not an amount is agreed to be paid in consideration of such transfer or other dealing;

certificate of title means a certificate as defined in section 3 of the Real Property

Act 1886;

council means a council under the

Local Government Act 1999;

council area means the area of a council;

Crown lease means a perpetual lease, pastoral lease or miscellaneous lease;

document of title includes a certificate of title, a Crown lease or an agreement to purchase;

easement includes, in relation to land held or to be held under a Crown lease, an underlease;

interest in relation to land, means—

any legal or equitable estate or interest in the land;

or

any easement, right, power or privilege in, over, affecting, or in connection with, the land;

land includes an interest in land;

miscellaneous lease means a miscellaneous lease within the meaning of the Crown Lands

Act 1929;

pastoral lease means a pastoral lease within the meaning of the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation

Act 1989;

perpetual lease means a perpetual lease within the meaning of the Crown Lands

Act 1929;

person affected, in relation to a road process or proposed road process, means—

a person who has an interest in land subject to the road process or proposed road process; and

a person who has an interest—

in land adjoining land subject to the road process or proposed road process; or

where the process relates to less than the full width of a road or proposed road—in land adjoining the opposite side of the road or proposed road; and

a prescribed public utility; and

in relation to land of a prescribed class—a public authority (other than a prescribed public utility) prescribed in relation to land of that class; and

any other person who would be substantially affected by the process;

Planning Minister means the Minister for the time being administering the Planning,

Development and Infrastructure Act 2016;

prescribed easement, in relation to land subject to a proposed road closure, means an easement required by a prescribed public utility in connection with any drains, pipes, wires, cables or other works that are, or may be required to be, located in, on or over the land for the purposes of services provided or to be provided by the prescribed public utility;

prescribed public utility means a Minister, statutory authority or other person declared by regulation to be a prescribed public utility for the purposes of this Act;

relevant authority, in relation to a road process or proposed road process, means—

where the road process is part of or directly associated with a development or proposed development under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure

Act 2016 that requires development approval from the

State Planning Commission—the State Planning Commission;

or

where the road process is part of or directly associated with a development or proposed development under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure

Act 2016 that requires development approval from the

Minister for the time being administering that Act—the Planning

Minister; or

in any other case—the council;

the repealed Act means the Roads (Opening and Closing) Act 1932;

road means—

a public road within the meaning of section 4 of the

Local Government Act 1999;

or

an alley, laneway, walkway or other similar thoroughfare vested in a council; or

in relation to a part of the State not within a council area—

a road or street delineated and shown on a public map or plan of the State as laid out for public purposes by the Crown; or

a road or street opened under this Act or any other Act relating to the opening of new roads and streets; or

a road or street transferred or surrendered to the Minister of

Local Government or the Crown by the owner or lessee for use as a public road or street; or

a road or street declared or dedicated under any other Act to be a public road or street, and includes part of a road;

road closure means closure of a road pursuant to this Act other than a closure by the Minister pursuant to section 6;

road opening means the opening of a road pursuant to this Act;

road process means—

a road opening; or

a road closure; or

a combination of a road opening and a road closure;

road process order means an order made by a relevant authority for a road process pursuant to this Act, including, in relation to a road closure, any further order made as part of the order;

stock route means a stock route for the purposes of section 45 of the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation

Act 1989.

In this Act, a reference—

to the opening of a road extends to the widening of a road;

to closure of a road extends to the narrowing of a road.

For the purposes of this Act, a road process is discontinued in respect of land if—

the relevant authority determines that no road process order is to be made; or

a road process order is made by the relevant authority but does not deal with the land; or

a road process order is made by the relevant authority dealing with the land but the road process lapses by virtue of section 20(2) or the Minister declines to confirm the order.

NoteFor definition of divisional penalties (and divisional expiation fees) see Appendix.

A road may be opened or closed by a road process order made by the relevant authority, confirmed by the Minister and notified in the Gazette in accordance with this Act.

A road process may be commenced by a council in relation to a road or proposed road within the area of the council.

A road to which this section applies may be closed by the Minister, on the recommendation of the Surveyor-General, in accordance with

Part

7.

This section applies to a road—

where all of the land adjoining the road is land—

belonging to the Crown or an instrumentality of the Crown and not granted, lawfully contracted to be granted or leased to a person (other than an instrumentality of the Crown) or subject to an agreement to purchase;

or

used or occupied by the Crown or an instrumentality of the Crown;

or

where—

the road is not within a council area; and

the Minister is satisfied that the road is not in public use and will not be required for such use in the forseeable future.

A road to which this section applies may be opened or closed by the

Planning Minister in accordance with

Part 7A.

This section applies to a road or a proposed road that is directly associated with development—

that is classified as impact assessed development (other than restricted development) under Part 7 Division 2 of the

Planning, Development and Infrastructure

Act 2016; or

subject to a Ministerial direction under section 130(25) or 131(25) of the Planning,

Development and Infrastructure Act 2016.

A road to which this section applies may be made wider, narrower, longer or shorter by the Minister in accordance with

Part

7B.

This section applies to a road within, or adjacent to, the Adelaide

Park Lands.

The Minister may take action under this section even if any part of the relevant land has been dedicated for the purposes of park lands or for any other purpose.

To avoid doubt, nothing in this section or

Part

7B prevents steps being taken to open or close a road under another provision of this Act (to the extent to which that provision would otherwise apply).

In this section—

Adelaide Park Lands has the same meaning as in the Adelaide Park Lands

Act 2005.

No power to close a road pursuant to this Act extends to a road that is a stock route or part of a stock route.

Every road opened pursuant to this Act—

is, subject to the Highways

Act 1926, vested in and under the care, control and management of the council for the area in which it is situated;

and

is, while still open, dedicated as a public road.

Where a council proposes to commence a road process, the council must cause to be prepared—

a preliminary plan of the land subject to the proposed road process, in a form approved by the Surveyor-General; and

a statement in a form approved by the Surveyor-General containing—

the names and addresses of those persons affected who can be identified by reasonable inquiry; and

such information in relation to the land subject to the proposed road process as is required by the Surveyor-General.

A copy of the preliminary plan and statement referred to in subsection (1) must be deposited at the Adelaide office of the Surveyor-General, together with the prescribed fee.

Where a council commences a road process, the council, where it is the relevant authority in relation to the proposed road process, or, in any other case, the Surveyor‑General, must—

after compliance with the requirements of section 9, give public notice, in accordance with the regulations, of the proposal; and

at the same time serve notice in writing of the proposal on each person affected who can be identified by reasonable inquiry.

Where the relevant authority in relation to a proposed road process is a council, the council must, as soon as practicable after giving public notice under subsection (1) in relation to the process, deposit a copy of the notice at the Adelaide office of the

Surveyor-General.

Where a council commences a road process under which a road is proposed to be opened over land not owned by the council—

the following provisions apply if the land has been brought under the Real Property Act 1886:

the Surveyor-General must forthwith after receipt of the preliminary plan and statement pursuant to section 9 notify the Registrar-General of the proposed road opening who must forthwith enter a note of the proposed road opening on the title to the land;

the council may lodge a caveat with the Registrar-General forbidding any dealing with the land without the consent of the council;

if the road process is discontinued in respect of the land or a road is opened over the land, the Surveyor-General must forthwith notify the

Registrar-General of that fact who must forthwith remove the note and any caveat lodged by the council;

the following provisions apply if the land has not been brought under the Real Property Act 1886:

a person with an interest in the land on whom notice of the proposed road opening has been served pursuant to section 10 must not enter into any transaction in respect of the land without first disclosing the fact that the road process has commenced in respect of the land;

if any agreement in respect of the land is entered into without disclosure as required by this paragraph, the agreement is voidable at the option of the person to whom disclosure should have been made;

the council may lodge a copy of the notice of the proposed road opening at the General Registry Office and may, by notice in writing served on any person, require the person to deliver up to the Registrar-General any instrument evidencing the person's interest in the land;

if a person on whom a notice has been served pursuant to this paragraph fails, without reasonable excuse, to deliver up within the time specified in the notice, any instrument that the person is required by the notice to deliver up to the Registrar-General, the person is guilty of a summary offence and liable to a penalty of a division 7 fine.