Council's Local Law Department is responsible for ensuring requirements are met by owners under both the Impounding of Livestock Act 1994 and relevant sections of the General Local Law 2020.
Livestock must be managed in the following ways:
- The type and numbers of animals being housed should be adequate and appropriate
- Livestock should be managed in sanitary and inoffensive conditions
- There should be no unreasonable animal noise or dust and odour
- Animal should be prevented from escaping the property to which they belong
Any person wishing to keep livestock on a property under 8 ha (19.66 acres) may require a Keeping Excess Animals Application Form which is required to be renewed annually. Please check with Council if you are unsure if you require a permit.
Wandering stock can cause a nuisance to neighbours, particularly where livestock wander into breeding or young herds. Even more importantly, producers or owners of stock need to ensure stock does not wander onto roads where they can create a serious road safety issue.
It is also fact that wandering livestock have been known to cause fatal vehicle accidents. Severe on the spot penalties apply to owners of livestock that wander on roads or trespass on private land.
Council will attend livestock wandering on any of its roads 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is important to note Council will only attend to wandering livestock on a Council managed road.
Roads that are managed by VicRoads are not under the management of Council and will not be attended to by Council Ranger.
See the list of roads in the shire, that are managed by VicRoads.
- To report stock wandering on a VicRoads managed road, call 131 170
- To report wandering livestock on a Council road, call 03 5471 1700
Roadside grazing of livestock is when a road within a particular or designated area in the municipal district is used for grazing including supplementary feeding rather than for droving or movement of livestock.
Note, a person must not graze livestock on a road without a permit.
When applying for a permit the applicant must provide the Council with information about:
- measures to be applied for the adequate supervision and effective control of the livestock
- measures that will be taken to adequately provide for the health and fitness of the livestock
- details of the roads to be grazed or the route to be travelled
- signs that will be used so as to comply
- measures that will be taken to remove any litter from the road.
A permit is not required if:
- grazing is outside the property of the owner of the livestock
- the perimeter is secured with a functional electric fence
- appropriate warning signs are in place to advise road users.
Apply for a Roadside grazing permit
Apply for a Roadside grazing permit by email or in person:
Download and complete the Roadside grazing permit application form(PDF, 118KB).
Email it to info@mountalexander.vic.gov.au or bring it into our Customer Service Counter at:
Corner Lyttleton and Lloyd Streets
Castlemaine, Victoria 3450
Droving of livestock refers to movement of stock along a public road, from outside or within the municipality to a destination either outside or within the municipality.
Note, a person must not engage in droving livestock on a road without a permit.
When considering an application for a droving permit:
- council must consider the number of livestock
- the roads proposed to be travelled
- the livestock can be safety contained overnight.
A permit does not apply to a person moving livestock from one paddock to another providing appropriate warning signs are in place to advise road users.
Apply for a Droving of livestock permit
Apply for a Droving of livestock permit by email or in person:
Download and complete the Roadside grazing permit application form(PDF, 118KB).
Email it to info@mountalexander.vic.gov.au or bring it into our Customer Service Counter at:
Corner Lyttleton and Lloyd Streets
Castlemaine, Victoria 3450