Driveway Permits Albury & Wodonga

Albury or Wodonga? Check which council owns your street first

The approval you need depends on the council area the property sits in. It does not depend on where you live now, where your concreter is based or which side of the river your builder usually works on. Properties on the NSW side deal with AlburyCity, which approves driveway crossings under section 138 of the NSW Roads Act 1993. Properties on the Victorian side deal with Wodonga Council, which uses a road reserve works (RRW) permit. Your rates notice names the council. The comparison table below puts the two processes side by side.

Albury vs Wodonga driveway crossover rules at a glance

This is a summary of what each council publishes for a residential vehicle crossing. Where a council does not publish a detail, the table says to ask that council rather than guess.

Checked against council sources on 12 October 2026: AlburyCity's section 138 page, 2026/27 Fees and Charges and STD-R-31 drawing; Wodonga Council's driveways and road reserve page, Road Reserve Works Application Guidelines (January 2025) and local law permits page. Fees change each financial year, so confirm with the council before you apply.

Crossover, invert, nature strip: what the council controls

The crossover, which councils also call a vehicle crossing, is the part of your driveway on public land between the road and your property boundary. It usually takes in the kerb layback or invert, the nature strip or footway it crosses, and any footpath. The driveway proper starts at your boundary.

Councils regulate the crossover because it sits in the road reserve and joins their kerb, footpath and drainage. Work inside the boundary is yours to plan, although the stormwater rules further down still apply. For the private section, see our notes on planning the driveway itself.

AlburyCity's standard residential crossing drawing, STD-R-31, shows this layout: a kerb invert, a 1.8 m strip measured from the kerb line, then the crossing running through to the property boundary.

Albury: check the crossing permit

AlburyCity's application guidance identifies a crossing permit under section 138 of the NSW Roads Act as an approval that can be lodged separately from other development documents. The council form finder includes a water connection and driveway crossing application. Confirm whether the proposed work alters the crossing, kerb, footpath or road reserve.

When you need a section 138 approval

AlburyCity says a section 138 approval is needed before many works in the road reserve, including a new or modified driveway crossing and any work that affects a footpath, nature strip, kerb or gutter. The approval is separate from a development application (DA) or complying development certificate (CDC) and must be in place before work starts. Source: AlburyCity, Works in the Road Reserve (Section 138 Approval).

How to apply in Albury

• Apply online through AlburyCity's section 138 application form.
• If a DA or CDC is being lodged on the NSW Planning Portal, AlburyCity asks you to complete the relevant crossing permit form and upload it with the online application (Lodge my application).
• The council's Application for Water Connection and Driveway Crossing (PDF) needs a site plan showing where the driveway will go. It also asks whether this is an additional driveway and whether the work affects public trees or vegetation.
• For questions, call AlburyCity on 02 6023 8111.

Albury permit fee

AlburyCity's 2026/27 Fees and Charges list $160 per site for a permit for invert, gutter bridge or driveway construction (ref 0684, no GST), as at 12 October 2026. A permit for opening roads or footpaths is listed at the same $160 per site. No driveway bond appears in the road openings fees, so ask AlburyCity whether your approval conditions include one. Source: AlburyCity 2026/27 Fees and Charges (PDF), road openings fees.

AlburyCity's residential crossing standard (STD-R-31)

The application form says driveways must be built to AlburyCity Engineering Guidelines STD-R-31 for residential sites, with other drawings for light industrial and commercial sites, and that the footway crossing must be no steeper than 5% from the back of the kerb to the property boundary. The STD-R-31 drawing (approved July 2011) shows:

• concrete 120 mm thick, with a minimum strength of 25 MPa and an 80 mm slump
• a crossing width at the property boundary of 2,200 mm to 6,500 mm
• a kerb invert opening of 4,500 mm to 7,500 mm, including 500 mm transitions at each end
• a nominal fall of 2% to 5% across the footway
• a note that the detail can be adapted to suit any kerb profile

Other standard drawings, such as STD-R-35 for a layback with a back-falling drive and STD-R-50 for a rural crossover with a culvert, are on AlburyCity's engineering guidelines page. Treat the drawings as a starting point: the conditions on your approval govern your site.

Wodonga: road-reserve and vehicle-crossing controls

Wodonga Council states that building work may also require a road-reserve works permit, and its application system includes driveway/crossover work. Published guidance says new or altered crossings require an application, fee and bond. Its January 2025 guidelines allow the public crossing to be stippled, coved, broomed or exposed aggregate, while a rebuilt footpath must match the existing plain grey concrete.

What the Wodonga permit covers and when it is triggered

One RRW permit covers vehicle crossings, occupying council land during building work, stormwater connections and asset protection. Council inspects and records the condition of its footpaths, kerbs and drains before work starts, inspects again at the end and reports any new damage to the applicant. Wodonga Council requires the permit, on top of any building or planning approval, for:

• a vehicle crossing
• occupying council land
• a new dwelling
• demolition
• a swimming pool or spa
• domestic building work of $60,000 or more
• commercial building work of $90,000 or more
• other work that may affect council assets, reserves or the environment

Source: Wodonga Council, Driveways, easements and occupation of council land.

When and how to apply in Wodonga

Apply at least seven days before work starts. If work begins before the permit is applied for and the first inspection is done, council treats any damage to its assets as the applicant's to fix. Applications are made online, through the link on council's driveways page, and need:

• applicant contact details
• the property address, owner details and the owner's consent
• a plan of the works showing street trees, drainage pits, power poles and other street assets
• an erosion and sediment control plan
• evidence of public liability insurance of at least $10 million
• the application fee
• the refundable bond, or a current rolling bond certificate issued by council

Council's Road Reserve Works Application Guidelines (January 2025) set out the full conditions. For questions, call Wodonga Council on 02 6022 9300.

Wodonga fees and bonds

These are the figures published on Wodonga Council's driveways page, as at 12 October 2026. The application fee is non-refundable, and the bond is returned after a satisfactory final inspection.

The council page does not say which financial year these fees apply to, so check the current figures before you budget.

Wodonga vehicle crossing specifications

The guidelines say crossings must be built to council's standard, including:

• no wider than 4.5 m for a standard double garage
• no wider than 7.2 m for a triple garage, or where side access sits immediately beside the garage
• a combined width of no more than 7.2 m if a second crossing is added
• 125 mm thick concrete, with SL72 mesh placed centrally on bar chairs in 25 MPa paving concrete
• 12 mm dowel bars, 400 mm long, at no more than 400 mm centres
• a slope no steeper than 1 in 5

The general conditions in the same document also cap a permanent crossover at 4.5 m, so confirm with council before planning anything wider.

The crossing surface may be stippled, coved, broomed or exposed aggregate. If you are considering exposed aggregate finishes, sediment controls must stop the washings reaching the stormwater system. Footpaths must not be removed unless they are damaged and council has been told, and any rebuilt section must match the existing plain grey concrete.

During construction, site access is limited to the existing crossover. If there is none, a temporary rock-armoured crossover no wider than 4.5 m is required.

Where Wodonga will not approve a new crossing

• opposite an intersecting street
• within 9 m of a front or side boundary that sits next to a road intersection
• away from the driveway location already set for a lot in a new subdivision, which cannot be changed

Keep 1,000 mm clear of power poles, light poles, fire hydrants and similar assets. Building inside that zone, or moving an asset, needs the asset owner's written consent, at the applicant's cost, and that consent must reach council before work starts.

Second driveways in Wodonga

Unless a planning permit has approved it, council will not approve a second driveway where the street frontage is less than 17 m wide, the two driveways would be less than 7 m apart, and/or the frontage length is under 20 m. Driveway access at the building line cannot exceed 40% of the total frontage. Council encourages owners to talk to an officer before applying for a second driveway.

Inspections, work hours and making good

• Give 24 hours' notice for an inspection.
• A council officer inspects a stormwater connection before it is backfilled.
• Work affecting a road must be finished within one day, between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday, or 9am and 5pm on other days including public holidays, unless council approves otherwise.
• Damage to council assets must be made good within 28 days of finishing the building work. If not, council does the repair, takes the cost from the bond and invoices the owner for anything above it.

Nature strips, street trees and footpaths

Wodonga: changing a nature strip needs a Nature Strip Variation Permit, listed at a $177 fee and a $300 bond as at 12 October 2026. The permit conditions include:

• no damage to council assets, including street trees
• aggregate kept at least 500 mm from any tree trunk, with that zone mulched
• aggregate between 20 mm and 75 mm
• no parking, standing or driving on an aggregate nature strip
• a separate RRW permit for any extra crossover to reach the aggregate area

Under an RRW permit, trees on the nature strip must be protected and barricaded, and building materials cannot be stored on the nature strip without a permit.

Albury: AlburyCity says works affecting a nature strip, footpath, kerb or gutter generally need section 138 approval, and its crossing form asks whether public trees or vegetation are affected. The AlburyCity pages checked for this guide do not publish clearances from trees, poles or pits, so ask the council before the crossing is set out.

Building or moving across the border? Common mix-ups

• "My builder handled the permit last time." The process follows the property's council. Experience with Wodonga's RRW permit does not carry over to Albury's section 138 approval, or the other way round.
• "My DA, CDC or building permit covers the driveway." In Albury, section 138 approval is separate from a DA or CDC. In Wodonga, the RRW permit is needed on top of building or planning approval.
• "I am not touching the driveway, so I need nothing." In Wodonga, a new dwelling, demolition, a pool or spa, or domestic building work of $60,000 or more triggers an RRW permit even without a new crossing.
• "Exposed aggregate is fine on the crossing." Wodonga's guidelines allow it, with sediment controls. AlburyCity does not publish a finish rule on the pages checked, so ask before choosing a decorative crossing.
• "The width rules are the same on both sides." They are not. Wodonga caps a standard double-garage crossover at 4.5 m, while Albury's STD-R-31 shows 2.2 m to 6.5 m at the boundary.
• "We will start Monday and apply later." Wodonga wants the application at least seven days ahead, and starting first makes any asset damage your responsibility.

Not sure which side a suburb falls on? Check the suburbs on each side of the border.

Stormwater matters on both sides

Both councils state that hardstand areas must control runoff rather than concentrate it onto neighbouring property. Wodonga also says a driveway onto public land must not disrupt road drainage. AlburyCity identifies approved discharge arrangements and the need to keep easements and natural flow paths functional.

Wodonga Council's drainage and stormwater page sets out owners' responsibilities, including controlling runoff from new driveways and other hard surfaces.

Before you request quotes: crossover checklist

Print this with the table above, or use it as a list of questions for your concreter and the council.

1. Confirm which council the property is in.
2. Decide whether the crossing is new, widened, moved or an extra one.
3. Mark street trees, power and light poles, hydrants, drainage pits and the footpath on a site plan.
4. Check the planned width and grade against the council standard.
5. Agree who will be the applicant, and who holds any insurance the council asks for.
6. Lodge the application and pay the fee and any bond (Wodonga: at least seven days before work).
7. Book the inspections the approval requires.
8. Ask for quotes that list crossover work, footpath reinstatement, drainage and permit responsibility as separate lines.
9. Keep the approval and final inspection record with your property papers. It can be useful when you sell.

Council fees are only one part of the cost. For the construction side, see what a crossover adds to a concrete quote.

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Driveway permit questions