For all survey's completed in accordance with the Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2017, please refer to this page.
All parcels, which are to be dedicated to the public as a new road or as a pathway, or as an addition to an existing road (i.e. road widening) shall be identified as such either by street name or some other designation (e.g. Road 20.115 Wide) on registration of a new deposited plan.
A new parcel of additional land which is being added to an existing road by road widening is usually defined by a statement of its area. The boundary between the new road or road widening and the existing road network should be shown on the plan by broken lines.
New roads may be allocated lot numbers in some instances (where it is intended to lease or stratum subdivide the whole or part of the road). In these instances new titles will be created in the name of the road authority. The new titles will be endorsed with a notification:
'THE LAND WITHIN DESCRIBED COMPRISES PUBLIC ROAD'
Parcels in acquisition/resumption plans must be defined and numbered as a lot(s) in the plan in order to facilitate later Gazettal notification of the road dedication.
NOTE: All new road boundaries must be defined by survey. New roads may only be dedicated over Torrens Title land (or Old System land following conversion action to Torrens Title). The dedication of a new road, road widening or pathway over the site of an existing easement must be made subject to that easement.
NOTE: New roads in plans of subdivision lodged by the Department of Communities and Justice are often not intended to be dedicated to the public as at the date of registration of the plan. In these instances, the proposed roads are numbered as lots in the plan and the road is excluded from any road dedication statement. New folios of the Register for the lots will be created in the usual manner. The Department of Communities and Justice will subsequently either gazette the lots as a public road or lodge a second plan dedicating the lots as a public road in the usual manner.
New roads affecting Crown land
All plans of survey defining a new road over Crown land must have the appropriate approval of Crown Lands regardless of the purpose of the plan (see Road boundaries page).
Approval should be sought through Crown Lands.
New roads affecting the entirety of a current parcel
An existing parcel of land can be dedicated to the public as public road in a new deposited plan. The new plan should redefine the proposed road by survey ensuring that sufficient reference marks have been placed or found to satisfy the provisions of section 53 Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2024.
If sufficient marks are available to satisfy section 53 Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2024 and all boundaries are co-incident with the base plan, a request for exemption from a plan of survey may be made to the Plan and Title Advisor NSW LRS by contacting NSW LRS through contact us. The usual public road dedication statement, examples can be found here should be added to the Statements Panel on the Administration Sheet of the new plan.
As the new road constitutes a 'separate occupation or use' and the local council must accept its ongoing maintenance and upkeep, a completed Subdivision Certificate will be required. See plans requiring subdivision certificate.
NOTE: If the Subdivision Certificate is completed by a registered certifier, the plan must also be signed by an authorised officer of the local council.
Reference marks for new roads
Placement of reference marks for the purpose of defining new road or road widening must be in accordance with section 53 of the Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2024.
Relevant reference marks for urban and rural surveys must be placed in accordance with section 53(2)(b)-(d) and 53(4)(a)-(c) of the Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2024.
The maximum distance between 2 successive reference marks along a road frontage must not be more than:
- for an urban land survey;
- if there are intervening side boundaries – 100m, or
- otherwise 250m
- for a rural land survey - 1000m
Extensions to existing roads
All new roads must join an existing road. When reference marks have been placed in the existing road, the existing marks must be connected to the survey and the new reference marks placed in the road being created. The orientation of the existing series of reference marks must be compared with the orientation of the new series of reference marks and the comparison shown on the plan (see section 53(7)(a)(b) Surveying and Spatial Information Regulation 2024). For information on isolated roads see Temporary and isolated roads.
Also see Deferred placement of permanent marks page for more information.
All NSW legislation can be accessed at www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/
Publication Date: March 2025