Road adoption

Road adoption is a term used to describe the council taking ownership of a 'private street'.

A 'private street' is a road, which is not maintained at public expense. This means that the council, as a highway authority, is under no obligation to carry out repairs or cleansing to the street, even though it could be a public right of way to which highway and traffic law can be applied.

We have a Adopted Highways Register which lists our currently known adopted roads.

New roads that have been constructed in accordance with the council's guidelines are normally adopted by way of an agreement between the developer and the council under section 38 of the Act.

Existing roads will not normally be adopted unless they are brought up to current standards by the owners of the road.