Local communities are concerned about safety and amenity issues caused by property left unattended on public footpaths, roads and in parks and reserves.
The new laws create stronger incentives for owners and others to be responsible for their property left in public – such as stock animals, vehicles, shopping trolleys, bikes and kayaks.
The new laws give councils and other authorities strong powers to make people pick up their belongings from public within a reasonable timeframe, or potentially be fined and have to collect their property from a place of temporary storage or care.
Owners who do not attend to their property left in public within a reasonable timeframe will face fines and penalties.
The new laws will help to keep our public spaces safer and more accessible.
For further information on the new laws please refer to the below documents.
Vehicles include any item that can be registered under the Roads Act. There are different time periods for registered and unregistered vehicles.
For more information, please download the factsheet(PDF, 2MB) or go to www.olg.nsw.gov.au
Personal Items are items that belong to a household that are left in a public space being either a footpath, park or nature strip. These items include bikes and kayaks.
For more information, please download the factsheet(PDF, 3MB) or go to www.olg.nsw.gov.au
Animals includes any stock that is wandering outside the property which does not have a grazing permit, dogs that are not contained on a leash or in a leash free area and cats that are not within the boundaries of the property in which they reside.
For more information, please download the factsheet(PDF, 13MB) or go to www.olg.nsw.gov.au
Shared services are items used in the public space for personal use and are owned by companies. Items include shopping trolleys and shared bikes and scooters.
For more information, please download the factsheet(PDF, 2MB) or go to www.olg.gov.au