4. Committee report and Council decision
The Property Advisor prepares a report for the appropriate Council committee and full Council meetings. The report requests:
- to declare the land surplus
- authorisation to initiate the road stopping process.
Your proposal may be declined at this stage.
5. Section 40 PWA report
The Property Advisor, or a Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) accredited agent, will determine if section 40 of the Public Works Act 1981 applies to your proposal. This establishes whether the land has to be offered back to a previous owner or their successor.
If the land has to be offered back to a former owner, the Council’s offer-back process will be followed. This may take several months. If section 40 does not apply, or the offer-back is rejected, the process continues.
Your proposal may be declined at this stage.
6. Survey office plan and sale and purchase agreement
We will arrange:
- a survey office plan defining the legal road land being stopped
- an agreement for sale and purchase.
The survey office plan needs to be approved by LINZ.
7. Public notification
The Property Advisor arranges public notification of your proposal online, on site and in the newspaper.
The period of public notification is a statutory minimum of 40 days from the date of the initial notice.
If no objections are received, go to step 9.
8. If objections are received
If objections are received during public notification, the Property Advisor may arrange a meeting with the objector to try and resolve their concerns. If the objections cannot be resolved, they will prepare an objection report for the appropriate Council committee and schedule any oral submissions.
The committee hears objections and makes a recommendation to the full Council on whether or not the objections should be upheld.
If the Council decides not to uphold the objections and both the applicant and the objector wish to continue, the details are forwarded to the Environment Court. The Environment Court will make a ruling on the validity of the objections and whether or not the Council can stop the road.
If there have been objections, the Council and/or the Environment Court may impose further conditions on the road stopping. In these circumstances, it you may need to get an updated valuation if the conditions are likely to affect the value of the stopped road.
Your proposal may be declined at this stage.
9. Public notice to declare land stopped
The Property Advisor arranges a further public notice to declare the area of unformed legal road has now been stopped.
10. Title for stopped road land issued
The Property Advisor arranges an application to LINZ for a new title for the stopped road.
11. Settlement and transfer
The applicant pays for the land and any outstanding invoices relating to the road stopping process. Titles for the stopped road land and the owner's existing land are amalgamated as part of the settlement process.
Note: If a significant period has elapsed since the initial valuation, the Council may arrange an updated or final valuation of the land before requesting payment. This would take into account updates like:
- the final survey area
- any market movements since the date of the initial valuation
- other factors affecting the value of the land.
If you want to withdraw from the process
You can withdraw from the purchase process at any time before the conditional sale and purchase agreement is signed (at step 7 above). You will still be liable to pay all of the Council’s costs up until the date of withdrawal.
Contact us
The Property Services team is available Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Email: roadstopping@wcc.govt.nz