Encroachment status of private driveways perforating footpaths
Greg Bodnar made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council
The request was successful.
From: Greg Bodnar
Dear Wellington City Council,
I've been wondering about footpaths that are broken by private driveways. For example, the road entrance to the Wellington Railway Station breaks the footpath, denoted by kerbs in the footpath and an unbroken seal on the roadway. Notably, this involves different road rules than a private driveway that crosses a footpath, where the roadway involves a dropped kerb for access over the footpath.
In the case of the broken footpath, does this constitute an encroachment over council property? If so, are encroachment fees appropriate for these private driveways? Are there any encroachment fees currently collected for these private driveways?
Yours faithfully,
Greg Bodnar
From: BUS: IRO
Wellington City Council
Thank you for your email, sent to the Issues Resolution Office at Wellington City Council.
This email address is monitored daily. Your email will be assessed and actioned in due course.
We appreciate your patience.
Wellington City Council Issues Resolution Office.
From: Chris Brown
Wellington City Council
Hello Mr Bodnar,
Thank you for your information request, submitted via the fyi.org.nz website, concerning driveways and encroachments.
The simple answer to your questions is no - encroachment licenses are not required for access (driveways, entrances, paths) that follow the contour of the land.
Encroachment licenses are required for private structures and/or exclusive use of legal road.
I trust this is of assistance.
Kind regards
Chris
Chris Brown | Issues Resolution Officer | Governance Directorate | Wellington City Council
P 04 801 3479 | F 04 801 3048
E [email address] | W Wellington.govt.nz | |
IMPORTANT: The information contained in this email may be confidential or legally privileged. It is intended solely for the recipient or recipients named in this message. Please note that if you are not the intended recipient you are not authorised to use, copy or distribute the email or any information contained in it. If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender immediately and destroy the original message and any attachments.
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From: Greg Bodnar
Dear Chris Brown,
Thank you for your response. I understand the points around surface features, such as roads and paths, not being considered a structure over public land, but I'm interested in the justification of providing privileged access to visitors of a private property arriving by vehicle at the expense of users of the footpath who would otherwise have right of way. The result is that pedestrians are penalised by the perforated footpath with no expense to the owner of the private driveway. Does WCC hold any information on how the encroachment policy was developed?
Yours sincerely,
Greg Bodnar
From: Chris Brown
Wellington City Council
Hello Mr Bodnar,
I have asked the Council's Chief Transport Planner for comment on the matter you have raised.
This is not something that is covered in the encroachment policy.
I will provide you with a response as soon as I am able to do so.
Kind regards
Chris
Chris Brown | Issues Resolution Officer | Governance Directorate | Wellington City Council
P 04 801 3479
E [email address] | W Wellington.govt.nz | |
IMPORTANT: The information contained in this email may be confidential or legally privileged. It is intended solely for the recipient or recipients named in this message. Please note that if you are not the intended recipient you are not authorised to use, copy or distribute the email or any information contained in it. If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender immediately and destroy the original message and any attachments.
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From: Chris Brown
Wellington City Council
Hello Mr Bodnar,
Thank you for your patience, regarding your request.
As I advised on 13 May, the Encroachment Policy is not the information
that best serves a response for you, and I asked the Chief Transport
Planner for his comments.
To illustrate the situation, I asked him to look at three areas of
interaction: Railway Station entrance, Bunny Street; Michael Fowler Centre
drop-off entrance, Wakefield Street (between Town Hall and MFC); Michael
Fowler Centre Car Park entrance, Wakefield Street. These areas all have
differing layouts in places where pedestrians and traffic interact.
Please find those comments as follows:
In the case of the Railway station forecourt, this is legally public road
and due to the volume of vehicular traffic has retained a conventional
roading layout at the two vehicle access points into and out of the
forecourt. Pedestrian numbers are quite low at these points and the main
pedestrian flows are catered for with a central raised platform across
Bunny Street and signalised pedestrian crossings at either end.
The treatment used at the Michael Fowler Centre vehicle entry point near
the Town Hall has been designed flush with the adjacent footpath for
pedestrian convenience while demarcating the vehicle driveway using a
contrasting concrete block rather than the adjacent clay bricks which are
not able to stand up to traffic. Due to the numbers of pedestrians in this
area especially during events at the MFC, it was also desirable to design
the area to highlight to pedestrians the presence of vehicles and hence
the use of ornamental bollards to demarcate the edges of the vehicle
driveway.
At the MFC car park access point further along Wakefield Street, the
footpath has been taken through the "intersection" on a raised platform so
that pedestrians on Wakefield street are provided with a more level walk
through the intersection and the platform also acts to slow traffic as it
enters or leaves the car park.
It is fair to say there are a number of different treatments around the
city but a common theme has been to increasingly recognise the needs of
pedestrians wherever they need to interact with vehicles, and as funding
allows we will continue to implement this policy through street designs
tailored to the particular circumstances.
I trust this helps.
Kind regards
Chris
Chris Brown | Issues Resolution Officer | Governance Directorate |
Wellington City Council
P 04 801 3479
E [1][email address] | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3][IMG]|
[4][IMG]
IMPORTANT: The information contained in this email may be confidential or
legally privileged. It is intended solely for the recipient or recipients
named in this message. Please note that if you are not the intended
recipient you are not authorised to use, copy or distribute the email or
any information contained in it. If you have received this email in error,
please advise the sender immediately and destroy the original message and
any attachments.
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