Thread: They are doing something about the road!

Isn't the local council required to provide an all-weather access road? I grew up in the Wimmera with it's black soil - if it's wet you'll generally get about 20 metres before you're completely bogged, so all the farms have gravelled access to an all-weather road. There's no bridge on the nearest river crossing, it's always been a ford as far as I'm aware. The current arrangement (concrete pipes covered by concrete and gravel) works well and appears to be resistant to floods. If the river comes up, like it did recently, then they just close it. I've been across it with about 30 cm of water over the surface and it was fine, they probably close it at 50 cms above the ford surface.

Originally Posted by Arapiles

Isn't the local council required to provide an all-weather access road? I grew up in the Wimmera with it's black soil - if it's wet you'll generally get about 20 metres before you're completely bogged, so all the farms have gravelled access to an all-weather road. There's no bridge on the nearest river crossing, it's always been a ford as far as I'm aware. The current arrangement (concrete pipes covered by concrete and gravel) works well and appears to be resistant to floods. If the river comes up, like it did recently, then they just close it. I've been across it with about 30 cm of water over the surface and it was fine, they probably close it at 50 cms above the ford surface.

Legal road access is all that is legally required. Whether it has a constructed road in the reserve is a matter of development history. Many old bush land parcels would have an obscure legal road frontage, but gain physical access via a totally different route.

The legal situation varies from state to state. From what I have heard, Victoria is notably better than NSW.

The area involved here was subdivided in 1911, with road reserves delineated providing access to all blocks. The blocks were then apparently opened to selection in the early twenties. However, there were no successful selections over a large area of forest, mostly described on the original maps as "barren stony ridges". As a result, most of the area became State Forest, and provided a lot of railway sleepers from about 1930-1990. Roads were maintained by State Forests. In 2006 the land was transferred from them to NPWS.

However, it seems that many of the roads were deliberately excluded from this transfer, although this is rather unclear. This means they are unalienated crown lands. There was a major fire in the forest in 2007. NPWS has done some road maintenance on some of the roads since then.

The road I use is partly a road that existed before the 1911 subdivision, and partly the rectangular grid set up by the subdivision and formed as roads by Forests NSW. Adjoining landowners who use the roads did occasional maintenance and improvements until threatened with prosecution by NPWS after 2006.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

The legal situation varies from state to state. From what I have heard, Victoria is notably better than NSW.

The area involved here was subdivided in 1911, with road reserves delineated providing access to all blocks. The blocks were then apparently opened to selection in the early twenties. However, there were no successful selections over a large area of forest, mostly described on the original maps as "barren stony ridges". As a result, most of the area became State Forest, and provided a lot of railway sleepers from about 1930-1990. Roads were maintained by State Forests. In 2006 the land was transferred from them to NPWS.

However, it seems that many of the roads were deliberately excluded from this transfer, although this is rather unclear. This means they are unalienated crown lands. There was a major fire in the forest in 2007. NPWS has done some road maintenance on some of the roads since then.

The road I use is partly a road that existed before the 1911 subdivision, and partly the rectangular grid set up by the subdivision and formed as roads by Forests NSW. Adjoining landowners who use the roads did occasional maintenance and improvements until threatened with prosecution by NPWS after 2006.

Try NSWGlobe. It has all the Cadastre shown.

What authority does it have? A few months ago I ran into a Crown Lands officer trying to work it out on the ground!

Originally Posted by JDNSW

What authority does it have? A few months ago I ran into a Crown Lands officer trying to work it out on the ground!

Torrens Title, with a few exceptions. Basically, it's the Government record of land parcel boundaries.
Very clear.
As to the term 'Road Reserve', I'm not sure what that means. I am in Queensland though.

Was the said Crown officer a surveyor?

Originally Posted by Saitch

Torrens Title, with a few exceptions. Basically, it's the Government record of land parcel boundaries.
Very clear.
As to the term 'Road Reserve', I'm not sure what that means. I am in Queensland though.

Was the said Crown officer a surveyor?

Road Reserve is crown land vested in a roads authority (generally LGA or state road authority).

Went into town yesterday. Work has progressed over about half the distance from the bitumen (but not including the most difficult bit, which is this end).

Apart from grading the road, they seem to be filling the bogholes with the coarse (fist sized) gravel, and topping with finer stuff, all rolled. Small creeks the same, with a pipe under the road. They also have rolls of geomatting, but I have not seen exactly what it has been used for, probably under the gravel in the bogholes.

At this rate, they could be finished by Tuesday next week, although with a lot more work this end, it could take another week. And I don't know what the rain falling for the last hour will do to it. Maybe lay the dust a bit - I don't think there will be enough to be a problem.