Why Do You Need a Council Permit For a Skip Bin

One of the "best kept" secrets in our Skip Bin Hire Industry is that any Skip Bin placed outside of your property requires a council permit.  It is particularly surprising to customers, who are ordering skip bins for the first time.  It is even more disturbing that while all skip bin hire Suppliers are responsible for applying and obtaining the permits on customers behalf, some of them are failing to advise their customers, thus knowingly breaking the local laws and putting their customers and themsleves at a risk of fine, which in many cases outweighs the cost of permit itself. 

To unveil the mystery of Council Permits fo Skip Bins, we've put together a summary for you, covering most councils that we worked with in 2023.

General Principle of Council Permits for Skip Bins on The Road

According to Victorian Government website, You will require this permit if you intend to place a storage or bulk rubbish container on a road. A bulk rubbish container is a bin, skip, container or other structure designed or used for holding a substantial quantity of rubbish and which is unlikely to be lifted without mechanical assistance.

Therefore, regardless of which city council in Melbourne you reside or working on a project in, the relevant city councils laws will apply to placing a skip bin on council property.  One principle that unites all councils in Melbourne is that obtaining a council permit for any bin on a road or nature strip is a given, however the rules pertaining to various councils differ in many ways, for example:

• Some councils allow placement of skips on a road & nature strips while others - on a road only
• With some councils we can apply for a permit on the day of skip bin delivery, while others require a few days advanced notice
• Some councils have non-metered and metered parking rates, while others flat rates
• Some councils charge application fee in addition to daily fee, while others just a flat fee
• Some councils offer daily rates for skip placements while others a fixed number of days
• All councils charge different rates from each other and these rates are updated (usually increased) each new financial year

As you can see it is hard enough for us to navigate all the council's laws, hence at the start of each financial year we contact all the councils to update their rules and prices in our register, so that we can always advise our customers the correct rates and ensure that no penalties will apply for incorrect application for any council permit for skip bins on council property.

One more important note is that only a Skip Bin Supplier can apply and obtain a council permit on behalf of our customers.  There are few reasons behind it. 

First of all - you need to have a public liability insurance with a minimum of $20,000,000 coverage and you have to be registered with a council as a supplier. 

As we are registered with most councils in Melbourne, we have an online portal with majority of them, where we can organise a permit in a matter of minutes, thus ensuring an immediate compliance for our customers and ourselves and saving you time and hassle to handle paperwork which can take weeks in order to register with any council.

Final point on Council Permits is that you only need a permit if the bin is NOT placed on your or your customer's property.  Bins on Cross Overs also require Permits.  In some circumstances permits might not be granted by the council, in particular on some arterial roads, such as Warrigal Road and the like, as it will interfere with a traffic flow. 

We will now list some of the important details related to some of the bigger councils in Melbourne for 2023-2024 Financial Year.  Please note that prices are inclusive of GST and will change again on 1st July of every year.  However, as many smaller councils are not listed below & each of your projects is unique and different, we encourage you to give us a call on 1300 605 624 should you require a specific quote for specific number of days for your Skip Bin placement permit.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Melbourne

Skip Bins can only be placed on a Road (not nature strip), there is an application fee and daily fee.  Therefore regardless of how many days you require a skip bin on a road, you pay application fee of $115.80 plus a daily fee of $102.30 in current financial year.  Should you understimate the number of days required and need us to apply for an extension of the permit, the new application fee will be applicable again.  City of Melbourne is extremely strict in regads to skip bins without permit and fines for this are a minimum of $1,000.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Port Phillip

One of our popular suburbs in Port Phillip is Elwood, Vic 3184, where due to high dencity living, most skip bins are being placed on a road, due to very narrow or non existen driveways subsequent to the prevailance of apartment living.  In the City of Port Phillip, Skip Bins can only be placed on the Road (not nature strip) and expect to pay an application fee of $47.60 plus daily fee of $23.65.  

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Yarra

Richmond and other areas in a City of Yarra are just some of the popular suburbs where we have to organise council permits.  As the City of Yarra municipality is also very densly populated, most skip bins have to end up on a road (nature strips are not allowed). City of Yarra has a differentiation between metered and un-metered parking hence large difference in price.  For Metered Parking, expect to pay $90.60 for the first day and $77.15 per day thereafter and for non-metered parking the fees are $42 for the first day and $28.50 per day thereafter.  Therefore Permit Fees in the City of Yarra are at daily rate.

Due to very tight streets and a lot of vehicles parked, we recommend for our customers to always secure a space on a road for our bins, by parking your own vehicle plus placing a few rubbish bins to reserve the space for bin placement and for truck to reverse, as skip bins are off loaded from the back of the truck.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Boroondara

Camberwell, Hawthorn, Kew, Ashburton as just some of the popular suburbs for Skip Bins placed on a road in a city of Boroondara.  Placement of Skip Bins is allowed on a Road only (no nature strips). In addition, bins on a road cannot exceed the height of 1.5m, which means that if you were to require a large size skip from 8 cubic meters up to 12 cubic meters, we would suggest a hook bin, as they are low sided, rectangular bins, which can fit under 1.5m height restriction. 

City of Boroondara fees are: Application fee $44.30 plus $30.80 per day. Please note that day of delivery and day of pickup are also counted in the day count.

Some suburbs in a City of Boroondara are called shared post codes, meaning that some of them might fall either under the City of Boroondara or shared with another city council. An example of such suburbs is Glen Iris, Vic 3146 where some streets will fall under the City of Boroondara, while other streets will fall under the City of Stonnington.  If you are working on a client's property & not sure which city council the property falls under, please give us a call on 1300 605 624 and we'll be able to confirm for you.  City of Boroondara is notorious for checking any skip bins on a road and fines are a minimum of $250 for any bin without a permit.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Knox

Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Scoresby, Wantirna & Rowville are some of the popupal suburbs under the municipality of Knox.  This city council allows the placement of skip bins both on a nature strip and on a road.  The expected fees to pay in current financial year are $90.50 which covers you for up to 7 days of placement.  Should you require to extend you skip bin hire, we would need to apply for an additional permit on your behalf.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Whitehorse

Some of the suburbs in this city council with high demand of Skip Bins placement on a road are: Blackburn, Box Hill, Forest Hill, Nunawading, Mitcham and many more.  Some of the Suburbs are called shared suburbs, where some streets can fall under a different city council. One such example is Mont Albert, Vic 3127 and Surrey Hills, Vic 3127 where some streets fall under the City of Whitehorse, while others under the City of Boroondara.

Bins in this council can only be placed on a road and fall under "metered" or non-metered placement.  In a case of non-metered placement, expect to pay $141.10 for up to 5 days with additional fees for any extra days.  In a case of a metered placement the fees are: $141.10 for 5 days plus $45.10 per day to accomodate for the parking bay being "metered". This totals $366.60 for a skip bin to be placed in a metered parking bay for 5 days.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Bayside

Brighton, Beaumaris, the bayside part of Highett, Black Rock are just some of the examples of Bayside City Council suburbs.  Having a close proximity to our depot, we seem to be applying for a large amount of skip bin permits with this council.  It seems to us that due to a very densly populated area and therefore smaller size driveways, the customers are opting to get a permit.  In addition, most of our landscapers working on customer's properties in the area are usually uitilising the driveway for their machinery or tools hence requiring a skip bin out of their way on a road. 

City of Bayside allows placement of Skip bins on a road and on a nature strip. Be mindful of couple of shared post codes suburbs, which some streets can also fall under the City of Kingston, such as Cheltenham and Highett.  Check with us if unsure which council the property falls under.  City of Bayside allows you to place skip bins up to 7 days with a current fee of $199.40.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Glen Eira

One of our favourite municipalities, boasting suburbs such as Bentleigh, Caulfield, Esternwick, Ormond, Murrumbeena, McKinnon, among others and offering both nature strip and road options for skip bin placements and up to 7 days flat fee of $112.85.  In our opinion, one of the most reasonable councils to deal with, however don't take it for granted as any bins without a skip bin permit will attract a minimum fine of $250 per bin.

Couple of suburbs in a City of Glen Eira fall into a shared post code, depending on the street, such as St Kilda East, where some streets also fall under the City of Port Phillip Municipality.  Hence if you are quoting for one of your customer jobs and not sure which council it relates to, don't hesitate to give us a tinkle on 1300 605 624 and we'll clarify it for you.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Kingston

This council we deal a lot with not only for our customers but also because our own recycling yard is located in the City of Kingston.  Covering a very
large range of suburbs from Aspendale, Chelsea, Dingley, Morrabbin, Parkdale, Waterways and anything in between, this council offers placements on Nature Strip as well as Road. 

There are two options for a permit, either a one day permit, which means that skip bin needs to be placed and removed on the same day, with a fee of $157.60 or a 7 day permit with a fee of $265.40. This fee has doubled compared with the last financial year, due to the increase of activity that they are experiencing on their roads.

Some suburbs in a City of Kingston fall under the shared post code territory, such as Cheltenham and Highett, which have some parts belonging to the Bayside City Council.  

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Monash

Monash City Council has recently changed it's rules and now we need to give them 72 hours or minimum 3 days prior to applying for a permit.  This creates a lot of complications for customers, who are calling on a day and need a bin that same day, or even 2 days ahead.  Therefore if your driveway is not large enough and you will need your bin placed on a road or nature strip, please plan ahead a minimum of 3-4 days to ensure that we can apply for your permit in advance.

Some of the suburbs covered by City of Monash are: Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Oakleigh, Ashwood, Chadston and Clayton among others.  In some cases where the streets are very narrow or in case of some courts, Monash Council can even refuse to issue a permit.  It doesn't happen too often but important to keep in mind that it's possible and has happened with this council.  Monash allows up to one week placement per permit and the fees are $126.55 per permit.  They have doubled their fees in recent years, in case you have experience dealing with them previously.

Placing Skip Bins in the City of Stonnington

Another one of our very popular municipalities for permits as being a very densely popuated areas, permits are required more often than not, due to narrow driveways, which are not suitable for skip bin truck access.  Some of the most frequent suburbs where we apply for Stonnington Permits are: Glen Iris, Kooyong, Malvern, Prahran, South Yarra, Toorak and Windsor among others.

Some Streets of Glen Iris, Vic 3146 are shared with the City of Boroondara Council, hence if you are quoting for client's job, call us for clarification as to which municipality the stret falls under.

Stonnington council allows placement of skip bin both on nature strips and on a road.  Be very mindful of laneways, as a rule, Stonnington doesn't allow placement of skip bins in laneways as a rule, unless you find an exceptionally wide laneway, where skip bin will not block the flow of vehicles.

The cost structure for Stonnington Council is as follows: 1-3 days permit is $94.90, 4-7 days permit is $118 and 8-30 days permit is $251.10

Prices and Conditions of Skip Bin Permits in Other Councils of Melbourne

• City of Manningham - allows placement on a road only, up to 7 days bin placement with a cost of $165.50
• City of Maroondah - offers three options: 1-3 days permit $118, 4-8 days permit $184 and 9-14 days permit $242.30
• Shire of Yarra Ranges - offers very affordable skip placement permits, at only $86.10 for up to 5 days
• City of Cardinia - another very affordable council, offers permits for up to 7 days at a cost of $76.20 for Residential and $154.30 for Building sites, valid for up to 3 months
• City of Casey - allows placement of bins on both nature strip and a road, at a cost of $145 for up to 10 days
• City of Greater Dandenong - offers up to 4 days placement on a road at a cost of $55
• City of Frankston - offers an option of one day skip placement at $63 or a weekly placement at a cost of $145.50
• Shire of Mornington Peninsula - another reasonably priced council, which offers placement of bins of up to 7 days at $108.10
• City of Maribyrnong - offers skip permits of up to 3 days at $77.95 and at $35.65 per day thereafter.  In commerical shopping areas a flat fee of $84.80 per day applies.
• Merri-Bek City Council - offers a placement of up to 7 days at $90
• City of Darebin - another affordable council, offers skip bin permits at $73.70 for up to 7 days
• City of Hobsons Bay - offers 3 days permits at $101.50 with extra days at $45.10 up to a maximum of 7 days.  Commercial area charges are $189 for up to 7 days with any extra days at $88 per day
• City of Nillumbik Shire - charges $67.40 for up to 4 days
• City of Moonee Valley - offers 1-7 days permit at $124.70
  
  
  
  
  

If you require a skip bin permit for one of the councils, not covered above, please give our friendly team a call on 1300 605 624 and we'll provide current pricing for you.  Please note: all councils update their prices each financial year, so the above prices will only be valid until 30 June 2024. 

We hope that the above guide will give you an idea of what to expect in various councils of Melbourne in regards to permit prices for skip bins.  Most important point to remember is that in all cases - the amount of fine for not obtaining a permit far exceeds the actual cost of a permit and the good news is - you don't need to do anything apart from paying the council fee.  We organise a permit on your behalf to ensure that we are all compliant.

Let's discuss your next project!