Thirteen Bylaws open for consultation
South Waikato District Council has reviewed thirteen Bylaws. These are open for public consultation from Wednesday 13 September. The community is encouraged to get involved.
Bylaws govern, manage and control activities in the South Waikato. These Bylaws are put in place for several reasons, including protecting public health and safety, protecting the environment, allowing for community enjoyment of our facilities and public places, coping with nuisances, setting operational standards, among others.
"Bylaws allow Council to exercise some control over practices in the district," said Council's Planning Manager Alan Moss. "Some examples are deciding where dogs can be exercised off leash; setting appropriate urban speed levels; advertising signage rules in public places; dealing with nuisance caused by animals in the urban area; busking, begging and vehicle window washing in our CBD areas; freedom camping permissions, controls and locations; banning alcohol on rural walkways like Te Waihou for instance; and a host of other controls to deal with issues that arise from time to time."
The Bylaws that Council is consulting on are listed on its website - to the right Say It (orange button). Documentation is available from the Council offices in Putāruru and Tokoroa and the Dog in Tīrau.
"There are a range of topics that are covered by these bylaws, so be sure to check out the list and see what interests you," continued Mr Moss.
Most of the bylaws are currently in existence and have been reviewed with some amendments, however there is one entirely new bylaw - the Property Maintenance and Nuisance Bylaw; that is likely to cause public interest.
"This new Bylaw has been developed to help Council put some pressure on private property owners to tidy unkempt and derelict properties. Current controls means Council can do very little in the 'private property' space, but this Bylaw gives us a bit more ability to enforce tidy up of properties that are derelict," explained Deputy Mayor Jeff Gash. "Council has developed this Bylaw in response to considerable public requests and submissions over the past few years to get rid of or spruce up unsightly private property that has a negative impact on our district."
The consultation period opens on Wednesday 13 September 2017 and closes on Friday 13 October 2017 at 4pm.
Link to the consultation page is here.
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