Road Closures or Temporary Traffic Management
Members of the public have no rights to close or prevent access along a road without the written consent of the council. Details on how to apply for a temporary road closure and the conditions required can be found below.
What is a temporary road closure?
A temporary road closure is approval from the Council for a road to be closed to traffic and/or pedestrians at a specified location for a specified period. It ensures that you can complete your work or hold your event to the standards prescribed by the Local Government Act 1974 and 2002 and/or Transport Regulations 1965. You must obtain consent for a temporary road closure:
- If a road or part of a road needs to be closed for an event; or
- If works need to be carried out on or under the road.
Why do I need to apply for a temporary road closure?
You are required under the Local Government Act 1974, sections 11(a) – 11(e), and the Local Government act 2002 and/or Transport Regulations 1965, to request permission to temporarily close a road. In certain situations where the Council owns the land or property affected e.g., an event in a park, you may not have to apply for a road closure. Closing the road without an approved traffic management plan and approved temporary road closure application is illegal and may result in a fine being imposed.
You must engage a qualified Temporary Traffic Management Planner to create your traffic management plan. Traffic management plans submitted that have not been prepared by a suitably qualified person will be rejected.
Events on the state highway need the consent of Waka Kotahi. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/contact-us/ Applicants should note that closures of state highways for events are not normally granted unless an approved diversion route is available.
Any event near to or where event traffic may affect the state highway will need written agreement with Waka Kotahi before approval
Traffic Management Plans
If you are planning to work within the road reserve or have an event that is on or adjacent to a road you will need a traffic management plan.
A traffic management plan is required when the normal traffic flow will be interrupted or there will be an impact on road users (motorists and pedestrians), for example if you wish to put up street flags, run an event on the road, or carry out work within the road boundary etc.
Further information regarding the event process can be found here.
Traffic management plans are to be lodged through the corridor access request process detailed here. Timeframes for lodging traffic management plans are detailed in the corridor access request process. The full form is to be used for all traffic management plans. The form and guidelines on how to complete the form are available to download on the right hand side of this page.
All traffic management plans and site set outs must be prepared and signed off by a qualified Site Traffic Management Supervisor.
For further information regarding traffic management plans please email enquiries to tcdctmp@pinnaclescivil.co.nz.
Public Liability Insurance
The applicant must provide evidence of public liability insurance cover of a minimum value of two million dollars ($2,000,000). Please include evidence from your insurance company or a public liability insurance certificate and return with this application.
Advertising and Costs
It is the responsibility of the person undertaking the event to communicate with all parties that may be affected by the event and to reach agreement on traffic management plans. For road closures Council (as the Road Controlling Authority) has to advertise the event in local news sources in advance of the event. The costs for this advertisement will be paid for by the event organiser. Council require a $600 deposit in advance of the advertisement being placed (quote revenue code 501.12194). Any funds not spent will be returned, and any additional costs for advertising will be charged to the applicant.