Guide 1 of 6 · All thirteen councils
Does my council need a permit for a skip bin?
It depends on your council and on where the skip will stand. Most of the thirteen Sydney councils here want their approval before a skip goes on a road, footpath or nature strip, while Burwood asks for no permit but does require an approved provider, Woollahra lets only licensed skip companies onto its roadway, and several ask nothing for a skip kept wholly on your own land.
General information from each council’s own page as read on 9 October 2026, not advice about your street. Your council is the place to check.
Council by council
The table sets out what each council’s own page says about the two places a skip can stand. Where a page says nothing about one of them, the table says so rather than guessing.
| Council | On your own land | On a road, footpath or verge |
|---|---|---|
| Bayside | No permit if the item is completely within your property. | Approval to place a skip on public land such as a roadway or verge. |
| Blacktown | No need to let Council know. | Allowed if the skip takes up the space of a legally parked car, and comes from a provider registered with Council or has a temporary Road Occupancy Licence (fees apply). |
| Burwood | The page does not separate the two: it says no permit is needed for a skip bin. | No permit, but an approved provider must be used, or an infringement notice may be issued. |
| Campbelltown | Not stated. | A Road Occupancy Permit may be required; skip bins are among the uses the page names. |
| Canada Bay | No application or notification. | Council approval, by application form and fees. |
| Cumberland | Not stated. | A permit when a hired skip is placed on the road. |
| Hornsby | No fee and no application. | Approval for footpaths, nature strips and road shoulders. |
| Hunter’s Hill | Where building waste skips are expected to stand. | Only with Council’s approval, in exceptional circumstances where private property is not possible. |
| Liverpool | Not stated. | The page names placing skip bins or containers in road reserves as a road occupancy, and points to its 2026 factsheet on permits. |
| North Sydney | Not stated. | A permit for anyone working on a Council road or footpath; skip bins are named. |
| Randwick | Not stated. | Approval for a skip on a public road, footway, nature strip or public place. |
| Willoughby | Not stated. | A skip bin road permit, for a skip of up to 6 cubic metres on a public road or footpath. |
| Woollahra | Not stated. | Only skip companies Council has licensed may place a skip on the roadway, in approved locations; a skip on a footpath needs Council’s written approval. |
Burwood
The provider, not the permit
Burwood Council’s skip page is short and unusual. It says a skip bin needs no permit in Burwood. What it does need is a provider Council has approved, and using any other risks an infringement notice. The page lists the approved providers and links Council’s Rubbish Skips Policy for anything further.
Council also invites reports about a resident you believe is not using an approved supplier, and asks that a report include where the bin is and a photograph. So in Burwood, the question that matters is not whether you hold a permit but whether the business delivering your skip is on Council’s approved list.
Blacktown
Private land, then the road reserve
Blacktown City Council’s page starts where a hire does: you arrange a skip by contacting a skip bin supplier. If it will sit on your private property, you do not need to let Council know.
On the public road reserve, a skip may stand as long as it takes up as much space as a legally parked car. The page then gives two ways to do it. A skip business registered with Council may legally place its bins on the road reserve, and the page invites you to ask Council which providers are registered. For a skip from an unregistered company, you apply for a temporary Road Occupancy Licence, and fees apply.
Registration is for skip companies: residents cannot make that application themselves. Council also says it does not endorse any service provider, and that company names it gives are for information only.
Which laws the approvals sit under
Where a council does want an approval, its page often names the law behind it. Randwick says its approval is required under section 68 of the Local Government Act 1993, and Woollahra’s form names the same section, Part C3. Cumberland’s approvals for work on roads and footpaths sit under the Roads Act 1993, the Local Government Act 1993, or both.
Two councils say what follows when the approval is missing. North Sydney says failing to get a permit, or to keep to its conditions, may lead to fines, cancellation of the permit or other action under either Act, and that Council may cancel a permit where public or residential amenity suffers. Randwick says that missing approval, or breaking its terms, is an offence under the Local Government Act 1993 that may bring legal proceedings, a notice, an order or a penalty infringement notice.
Campbelltown and Liverpool, in their own words
Campbelltown words it loosely: it says Council approval may be required before work begins when the work affects a road, a footpath, a parking lane, a nature strip or any other public space, and its table lists skip bins among the things a Road Occupancy Permit may be needed for. Liverpool describes a road occupancy as any activity that disrupts traffic, affects pedestrian safety or takes up public road space, footpaths and nature strips included, calls it mandatory, to manage safety and congestion, and names placing skip bins or containers in road reserves among its examples. For how to get a permit, it points to its 2026 road occupancy factsheet. The Western Sydney guide goes through both pages.
Three questions that settle it
- Will the skip stand wholly on your land?If so, Bayside, Canada Bay, Hornsby and Blacktown all say they need nothing from you.
- If not, does your council approve the skip or the provider?Most of the thirteen approve the skip’s place on the road. Burwood approves the provider, Woollahra lets only skip companies it has licensed place a skip on its roadway, and Blacktown lets a registered provider use its road reserve.
- Who holds the approval?In some places it sits with the hire business: Randwick lists providers with annual approvals for its roadways, and Woollahra licenses the skip companies that may place a skip on its roadway. The Randwick and Woollahra guide covers both, and the guide to a skip on the road has the conditions once it is there.