Australian council suspends controversial vehicle fees after community backlash

Melbourne’s City of Casey council has suspended its controversial private land use permit fees and will undertake a review of the highly publicised system following significant backlash from its ratepayers.

The City of Casey, Victoria’s most populous municipality with a population of about 400,000, requires residents to apply for a private land use permit if they plan to store more than two unregistered vehicles for up to 90 days, store long heavy vehicles, and even dismantle, repair or service vehicles.

Residents of the local government area, which takes in more than 400 square kilometres, must provide a site plan that illustrates where the activity will take place when filing for a permit.

While the City of Casey’s Local Laws were in place for years prior to the first reports about the permits surfaced in late 2024, changes made to the regulations in December 2023 gave Council officers the power to seize and impound property.

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This came to a head when last month, City of Casey resident ‘Rodney JT’ claimed the council had impounded a Holden Commodore ute and BMW 3 Series which were located on his property because he didn’t have the required permits to store unregistered vehicles.

Though the City of Casey defended this – saying it had contacted the resident multiple times over a three-month period to resolve the matter, claiming the vehicles were not on his land – councillors unanimously voted this week to undertake a review of its private land use permit system, and suspend permit and application fees in the meantime.

“I want our community to know that as your new Councillors, we are listening to the feedback and we are taking action,” said Cr Koomen.

“We believe a comprehensive review of the local law is the best way to ensure that our local laws are truly meeting the needs of our community,” said City of Casey Mayor, Councillor Stefan Koomen.

“Genuine community consultation will be a key focus of this review, and we want our community to know that their voices will be heard throughout this process. We will also be comparing our local laws to those of other Council areas to ensure they are fair and in line with the sector.

“We don’t want any residents to be financially disadvantaged while we are conducting the review, so we will be temporarily suspending the fees related to the Private Land Use permit for the time being.

The City of Casey council told CarExpert in February it had impounded vehicles from 10 private properties since giving its council officers the power to do so.

As previously reported, applying for a permit costs $150 (a non-refundable sum which the City of Casey retains even if the application is unsuccessful), while the permit fee for storing three or more unregistered vehicles is $250.

The council’s original wording about the land use permits on its website was unclear, and included the requirement for a permit if residents wanted to dismantle, repair or service vehicles on private land “in circumstances where the activity or use is detrimental to the amenity of the area in which the private land is located”.

It subsequently clarified this doesn’t extend to “completing minor repairs on your car on your private property, such as an oil change, belt change or water refill”.

While the City of Casey announced it would review the permit system earlier this month, this week it moved its monthly council meeting to be online-only, after February’s meeting – open to members of the public – was adjourned due to alleged abuse from ratepayers regarding the private land use rules.

“On behalf of the new Councillors, please be reassured that we are listening to our community, taking action and we will keep you updated as the review progresses,” Cr Koomen added.

“I want to thank our community for your patience over recent months, the new Councillors want to return back into the chamber, with our community there in the gallery. We’re looking forward to returning back to our normal in-person format as soon as we can.”

MORE: Australian council defends impounding resident’s unregistered vehicles