Central Coast RemovalistsLabel 1 of 5: the street
A container in the road reserve on the Central Coast
Central Coast Council asks for a road occupancy licence, or ROL, when something uses its road reserve in a way that affects people driving or walking past, and one of its own examples is a skip bin or container placed on a driveway or in the road reserve. The licence covers the road reserve space only, at the times and on the conditions Council approves.
General information from Central Coast Council’s road occupancy page, read on 9 October 2026, not advice about your street. Council assesses each application itself.
Council’s test is the traffic, not the vehicle
Council describes a road occupancy as any activity likely to affect how efficiently the Central Coast road network runs. More precisely, it is an activity that needs Council-owned road reserve in a way that affects the flow of vehicles or pedestrians, or an activity off the road that affects that flow. It can also mean closing one or more traffic lanes.
Council’s page does not frame this around any kind of vehicle. Its question is whether an activity uses the road reserve in a way that affects people driving or walking past, and it gives that as the reason a ROL is needed: Council is responsible for how efficiently the local road network operates.
The example that fits a move
Council lists examples of road occupancies, from resurfacing a road to lane closures around a building site. The example closest to moving house is placing a skip bin or a container on a driveway or in the road reserve.
Note the driveway. Council’s example names a skip bin or container on a driveway as well as one in the road reserve, so it is worth reading the page before assuming a container on your own driveway is outside it.
What the licence covers, and what it does not
It covers
Using a specified space in the road reserve, at approved times and subject to Council’s conditions of approval.
It does not cover
Permission or approval for the physical works themselves. Council says the licence applies to occupying the road reserve space only.
Applying, step by step
- Prepare the papersCouncil wants its licence application form filled in, traffic control plans (TCPs), and whatever other plans and documents go with the application.
- Pay the feesThe fees are the ones set out in Council’s fees and charges.
- Lodge onlineApplications go in through Council’s Online Services, and Council has published a How to Guide for the online lodgement.
- Allow timeCouncil usually processes a straightforward application within ten to fifteen working days. A more complex application, or one whose traffic control plan needs changing, may take longer. Council adds that these are average times only, and yours may differ.
Council’s page does not say who lodges the application. If a business is supplying the skip or container, that is a fair question to ask it before you book.
Whose road is it?
Council issues a ROL for its own roads only.
| The road | Where the application goes |
|---|---|
| A road owned by Central Coast Council | Central Coast Council, through its Online Services |
| A Crown Road | Not Council. Council points to the appropriate State Government authority, naming the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment |
| A State Road | Not Council. Council points to Transport for NSW |
Fitting it around moving day
With ten to fifteen working days for a straightforward application, a skip or container planned for the road reserve is something to sort out weeks ahead, well before the boxes are packed.
A pile of bulky waste for Council’s kerbside collection is a different matter, with its own booking and its own collection guidelines. That is the next label, Bulky waste before you move. The other labels cover the water account, power and gas and your pet’s registry details.
The short version
Council’s road occupancy page carries the application form and a map of its process. In short: if a skip bin or container will sit on a driveway or in the road reserve in a way that affects traffic or people on foot, Council’s page points to a road occupancy licence. It is applied for online with traffic control plans and the set fees, and a straightforward one usually takes ten to fifteen working days.