A POTENTIAL "huge financial burden" could be forced upon Leeton Shire Council should legislation regarding dividing fences be passed by the state.
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Councillors expressed their concern at last week's ordinary meeting about the proposed Dividing Fences Amendment Bill 2020, introduced by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) member Mark Banasiak. Council said it opposes this bill and will advocate for council land to be made exempt.
Leeton shire's general manager Jackie Kruger said if the bill was passed, it will have "have enormous financial implications for council".
As it stands, under the Dividing Fences Act 1991, adjoining landowners must share the cost of erecting or repairing the fences dividing them.
The Crown, local councils and other trustees of public reserves and roads authorities are exempt from the act and do not have any rights or liabilities under the act.
The combined cost of works on all the fences adjoining these road reserves could have a catastrophic impact on council's finances and leave it with little to fund the programs, facilities and services our community expects.
- Leeton Shire Council general manager Jackie Kruger
However, the Dividing Fences Amendment Bill 2020 seeks to amend the Dividing Fences Act 1991 to ensure that the Crown, councils, road authorities and WaterNSW will be liable to pay landowners for dividing fence works.
Irrigation corporations and Aboriginal Land Councils will remain exempt.
"Council owns not only the land on which many of our facilities stand but also hundreds of kilometres of road reserves along local roads," Mrs Kruger said.
"The combined cost of works on all the fences adjoining these road reserves could have a catastrophic impact on council's finances and leave it with little to fund the programs, facilities and services our community expects."
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However, Member for Murray Helen Dalton, a member of the SFF party, said the impact on councils would be "minor".
"The bill deals with crown land, so will mostly impact on the NSW state government," she said.
"Even if council leases crown land off the government, the state should ultimately be responsible for costs as they are the owner of the land.
"In rare cases where council use of land causes damage to dividing fences, it's reasonable for councils to bear the costs.
"Mark Banasiak, the author of the bill, and I would be more than happy to discuss Leeton Shire Council's concerns about the bill with them."
