Boat lifts and jetties in NSW: Crown Lands licences

2.1

The list

What Crown Lands will not approve

The department’s guidelines, published in February 2023 and still the version linked from its licence page, list the facilities and uses it will not approve or permit on Crown land. A selection, with the reasons the guidelines give where they give one:

A selection from the guidelines’ list of facilities and uses not acceptable on Crown land. The full list, including slipways, reclamations, seawalls and swimming enclosures, is in the guidelines (PDF).
Not approved	The exception or the reason given
Boat lifts or lifting devices, including mooring whips and davits	Allowed only where someone with a disability genuinely needs a lifting device to board and leave a boat safely.
Boat cradles	Unless the cradle can be retracted and stored fully above the mean high water mark or inside an approved boatshed.
Floating air docks, dry docks, and modular or storage pontoons for antifouling or storing boats	They affect public safety, visual amenity, seagrasses, fish habitat and safe navigation.
Several floating pontoons joined together	A single floating pontoon may be permitted at the end of a ramp, but multiple pontoons arranged together are not, even if attached to pylons.
Fuel storage and supply, service pedestals, water supply	Not associated with domestic use.
Lighting, solar panels, security cameras and other electrical works	Unless the department has consented and the items are installed to Australian Standards.
Gates, locks or signs that restrict entry	A licence does not give the holder exclusive possession of the structure.
Solid-fill jetties	They impede the natural flow of water, which can change sedimentation and harm the environment.

Already installed?

A Crown Lands fact sheet on storage devices says modular pontoons, floating air and dry docks, davits and similar devices cannot be installed even inside an approved licence area, that the department will direct their removal where it finds them, and that public liability insurance does not cover them.

2.2

From idea to timber

The five steps to build

For a new private facility over Crown land or a Crown waterway, the guidelines set out this order. Over a waterway that is not Crown land, such as many council-owned canal estates, the application goes straight to the council instead.

Landowner’s consent from Crown LandsPrepare plans and any environmental assessment. Where works involve dredging (sinking pylons counts), reclamation or possible harm to marine vegetation, or could obstruct navigation, get letters of advice from NSW DPI Fisheries and Transport for NSW Maritime first. Some waterways have a landowner’s consent strategy with a map: a waterfront coded green can skip the letters (green does not guarantee consent), orange cannot, and red means the application should not proceed.
The department assesses itIf it consents, you receive a letter and signed plans, usually on condition that the planning application is lodged within 12 months. Consent alone does not let you occupy the land or start building.
Planning approvalLodge the application with the council through the NSW Planning Portal. The guidelines say most new domestic waterfront facilities need development consent from the council, while some works can be complying development approved by an accredited private certifier.
The Crown licenceApply for a new domestic waterfront licence with the approved plans and the fee. The department may notify other stakeholders, which can add time.
Build, then surveyWork can start once every approval is in place, including any construction certificate. A works-as-executed survey is due within 6 months of finishing.

How this compares with Queensland and Victoria is in approvals for waterfront structures.

2.3

Living with it

What the licence lets you do, and what it does not

Term

Licences run for 20 years, or for the remaining life of the facility if that is shorter. The department may cancel a licence at any stage without compensation, and a holder must apply for a new licence 6 months before the current one ends.

Sharing the shore

The licence holder must provide public access to the waterfront and submerged Crown land. You may use the land and structures, but you do not own them or have exclusive use.

Berthing

Without an approved berthing area, a boat may be berthed at the facility for no more than 6 hours in any 24, inside the property’s division of waterway, without risk to safety or navigation and without blocking public access.

2.4

The annual bill

Rent, rebates and where a lift sits

The yearly charge has two parts, according to the guidelines: an administration fee that rises by 2.5% a year, and a rental charge for the use of public land below the mean high water mark, with GST added. The rental charge multiplies the precinct’s statutory land value per square metre by the area occupied, a 50% discount factor and a rate of return that the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal updates each year.

Eligible pensioners with a facility next to their sole place of residence get a 50% rebate on the rental part only.

Water-access-only homes

Properties reachable only by water pay no rent for structures that are essential for access, such as a jetty, ramp, pontoon or berthing area. The guidelines name boat lifts, with boatsheds and swimming enclosures, among the discretionary structures that still attract rent.

2.5

Old timber

Repairing, replacing or altering

Crown Lands’ fact sheet for licence holders draws the line this way. Repairs swap part of a structure for material of a similar type and size, such as new decking boards or a protective coat of paint, and, on a lawful existing structure where the work is exempt development, do not need the department’s consent as landowner. Work stops being a repair if it enlarges the footprint, changes the height, or touches a structural part such as a bearer, joist or pylon.

Replacing a structure like for like, which the fact sheet says is generally needed when load-bearing parts such as piles are damaged, needs planning approval. For a reserve-front structure, one separated from the property by a reserve or road, replacement and structural repair are not permitted, and a structure in bad condition must be removed.

Where the department finds an unauthorised structure that is consistent with the guidelines and departmental policy, the guidelines say the minister can grant an interim licence, which in most cases gives the holder 6 months to seek the consents. A structure the guidelines do not permit, or one whose consents cannot be obtained, must be removed, and the department may order its removal at the owner’s expense. Any unauthorised structure, licensed in the interim or not, may not be covered by public liability insurance.

Keeping a hull clean without a dry dock is covered in antifouling and the water, and power on a jetty in electrical safety near the water.