Small Watercraft Storage Policy

We are inviting the community to provide feedback on the Draft Small Watercraft Storage Policy.

This draft has been developed to align with how neighbouring Councils are managing Small Watercraft and Water Access and following community consultation for the Dunois Reserve Foreshore in 2025.

The Policy aims to encourage the use of small watercraft while balancing the needs of the environment and other park users.

Background

In a 2025 consultation, Council received general support for the installation of boat racks to better accommodate the quantity of boats currently stored in ad-hoc clusters along the Griffith Park / Dunois Reserve foreshore in Longueville. However, 89.6% of respondents believed that the racks will not wholly address the clutter of watercraft along the foreshore. Further, 93% of respondents believed that Council should develop an LGA wide watercraft strategy to manage the storage of watercraft, like other nearby Councils.

Council subsequently resolved (302/25) to develop an LGA wide watercraft management strategy in the December 2025 Council meeting.

For more detail follow the link to read the report to Council.

Existing Issues

Council currently permits owners of small watercraft to store registered vessels on public land at no cost to the boat owner. There are no formal requirements regarding how boats are to be stored, nor limitations on how may boats can be registered to a particular area.

The continued increased demand for water recreation has resulted in:

• an excess of small boats across the LGA,
• improper storage in sensitive bushland areas,
• poor access for others seeking to enjoy the foreshore,
• poor access for those seeking to get to their own boats where others have been stacked in the way,
• many abandoned boats, and
• an undesirable, unkempt public foreshore.

All Neighbouring Councils have implemented watercraft storage policies to mitigate the above issues and created a sustainable system for ongoing foreshore management.

Some recent images of Lane Cove's foreshore can be seen below:

Tambourine Bay, Riverview Burns Bay Reserve, Riverview

Kellys Esplanade, Woodford Bay Dunois Reserve, Longueville

Greenwich Baths, Greenwich Bayview Park, Greenwich

Watercraft Strategy

Council has developed the following strategy to better manage the storage of small private watercraft on public foreshore:

1. Where possible, formalise and consolidate storage options in areas of high demand.
2. Prohibit any storage on environmentally sensitive areas or areas zoned as environmental conservation (C2).
3. Introduce a fee structure for the storage of private watercraft on public land.

Map

Council has also developed the below map that identifies where boats would be able to be stored on public land. This uses land zoning to define suitable areas for water recreation launch points and potential formal storage locations to consolidate storage in areas of high demand.

Fees

There will be fees associated with registration and storage. The fees collected will be used to maintain and upgrade storage infrastructure throughout the LGA.

These have been proposed to align with the fees charged by neighbouring Councils. Council has included these fees for public exhibition in the consultation on the Draft Delivery Program & 2026-27 Operational Plan (refer to Fees and Charges Schedule, page 202).

These fees were also listed in the report to Council.

To provide feedback on the fees proposed, please make a submission on the Draft 2026/27 Budget Consultation (Closes June 5, 2026)

Have Your Say

Have your say on the policy by providing a submission using the Submissions button below.

Alternatively, you can lodge a written submission to the General Manager by quoting SU11199 by:

• Email: service@lanecove.nsw.gov.au or,
• Post: Lane Cove Council, PO BOX 20, LANE COVE, NSW, 1595

Next Steps

Following consultation, a report will be made to Council with recommendations to adopt the policy. Council will subsequently develop a systematic process for implementation.