What a Vehicle Crossing Permit Actually Costs in Melton

Most people find the permit after they have already collected driveway quotes, which is the wrong order. The permit sets your timeline, and occasionally it decides whether the driveway you have in mind is possible at all.

The application fee

Melton City Council issues a Permit to Create or Interfere with a Vehicle Crossing. The fee is tiered by whether the works are classed as minor or non-minor, and by the speed limit of the road.

The 2025-26 schedule published on the national ABLIS register listed minor works on a road below 50 km/h at $153.94, non-minor works below 50 km/h at $388.99, and minor works above 50 km/h at $153.94. Councils review fees annually, usually taking effect from 1 July, so check the current figures with Melton City Council rather than relying on any published number.

The insurance requirement is the real gatekeeper

Anyone working in the road reserve must carry public liability cover of at least $10 million. This is not a formality — the certificate goes in with the application.

It is also the quiet reason the cheapest quote is sometimes not eligible for the work at all. If a contractor cannot produce a current certificate at that level, they cannot legitimately do the crossing, whatever they quoted. Ask for it before you accept a price.

Traffic management

On a quiet residential street this is usually minimal. On a higher-speed road it is not — signage and, depending on the situation, traffic controllers become a genuine line item. If your frontage is on a faster road, ask for this to be priced explicitly rather than assumed.

The costs nobody quotes for

**Delay.** The single most expensive thing that can happen to a crossing job is an incomplete application. A missing insurance certificate or a sketch that does not show setbacks and service locations comes back as a request for further information, and you go to the back of the queue. Allow around ten business days for a clean application, and understand that an unclean one can take considerably longer.

**Rebuilding to current standard.** If you are altering an old crossing, expect it to have to meet today's standard drawing rather than the one it was built to. On a 1990s crossing that usually means the whole thing comes out. This is normal and it should be in the quote from the start.

**Inspections.** Crossing work is inspected, typically before the pour and again afterwards. Pouring before a required inspection is the one mistake with no cheap remedy — the concrete may have to be removed.

What to actually budget

Treat the council fee as a small, known number. Budget seriously for the construction standard the permit requires: proper base, correct profile, and a contractor carrying the insurance to be there legally.

The permit is not the expensive part. Doing the crossing twice is.

Fees, requirements and processing times change. Confirm current details directly with Melton City Council before you rely on any figure here.