A nature strip (road reserve) is the strip of public land between a property boundary and the adjacent roadway. They can have a number of important functions such as walkways around a community and providing remnant habitat for native species. Many services (sewerage, power, phone) also run beneath them.
Who looks after the nature strips?
Homeowners or their tenants are responsible for their nature strip's maintenance and upkeep.
Generally, the Mornington Peninsula Shire does not carry out maintenance on nature strips except where it plants street trees which are cared for and maintained by the Shire. The usual practice is for residents of abutting properties to maintain nature strips by regular mowing, edging turf, weeding and picking up litter.
Do I need a permit to landscape or extend my garden onto the nature strip?
It is a requirement of the Shire’s Community Amenity Local Law 2022, Works on Council Land or Roads to obtain a permit to landscape Council land and a requirement of the Road Management Act 2004 to obtain written consent of the coordinating road authority. For more information on the Shire’s Community Amenity Local Law 2022 or to access a copy, please see Local Law.
Types of landscaping works include:
- Planting
- Digging
- Excavating
- Ground levelling
- Tree removal
If you're considering submitting an application to landscape your nature strip, there are guidelines included in the Private Works on Nature Strips Policy(PDF, 677KB) which are useful when preparing your application.
To find out more about landscaping your nature strip visit the Nature Strip Landscaping Permit page.
Parking on nature strips
To find out about parking on nature strips, visit the VicRoads parking page.