Fences
Key points
If you’re repairing and replacing an existing fence ‘like for like’ you won’t need a building permit or Council’s report and consent.
Find out about fence building rules, fences and neighbours, fence disputes, and asking us to share the cost of building a fence between your property and Council land.
Fence building rules
If you’re building a new fence or repairing or replacing an existing fence and making changes to it (eg. not ‘like for like’), you’ll need to know the rules about heights. More info: Fences – height rules
Contact a neighbour about a side or rear fence
If you’re having trouble contacting the owner of a neighbouring property to talk about fixing or building a shared fence you can get their details from us:
Disputes about fences
We can’t help you solve a dispute with your neighbour about a fence or boundary. For help go to the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria: Fencing in Victoria
If your disagreement is about the fence not meeting building regulations, you can report illegal building works.
Share a fence with Council land
We will pay half the cost of building a fence between a property and Council land that has buildings or facilities on it. This includes:
- depots, maternal and child health centres and children’s centres
- senior citizen’s clubs
- reserves with playgrounds
- Council car parks
- community centres.
We will also co-fund fences around:
- farming land properties (leased out by Council)
- Council reserves under a new plan of subdivision (Pakenham only) if a development levy has been paid.
We will not help to pay for a fence around a reserve or open space that has no playground or Council building on it. This includes along roads, laneways or walkways and drainage reserves. We won’t help to pay to fix fence damage that you have caused.
The new fence will need to be built to our requirements.
Types of fencing
We will only co-fund the cost of a 1.65-metre-high timber paling fence. We won’t help pay for the replacement of fence like for like.
If you want the fence to be higher or include gates, you must get our approval and cover that extra cost. You will also need to apply to use steel posts, Colorbond sheeting (we approve only green or brown), chain wire mesh fencing or brick/block fences. Will we approve use of these materials if the fence:
- marks the boundary between the reserve and private land
- provides privacy and security to both sides
- allows the private property owner and reserve users to use the land without interfering
- is safe, sound and durable
- provides a partial noise barrier
- looks consistent with its surroundings
- is cost effective
- can’t be easily climbed over.
Contact us about half cost fencing
Tell us about your proposed shared fence - mail@cardinia.vic.gov.au or call 1300 787 624