New Local Law For Golden Plains Shire

News

Following public input in 2020 and 2021, Council adopted its new Local Law No. 1 (Local Law) at last night’s 23 November Meeting.

The main objective of Council’s Local Law is to protect the amenity of the Shire, and the health and safety of the community. Following a review of the previous Local Law No. 2 General Public Amenity 2017, Council developed a draft Local Law to replace it and invited community feedback on the proposal in July and August 2020.

During the consultation period, Council received submissions from 683 community members on its Draft Local Law. The majority of submissions related to the use of motorbikes on private land, burning off, shipping containers and the keeping of animals.

All written feedback was considered by Council, and in several workshops, Councillors worked together with officers to improve the draft document, which was published in September 2021. Following the release of the updated Draft Local Law, Council heard verbal presentations from 10 submitters at an unscheduled Council meeting on Tuesday 12 October. These verbal presentations reflected two of the main areas of feedback Council received during the written submission period on the original Draft Local Law: the keeping of animals and the use of motorbikes on private land.

Following the hearing of the verbal submissions, Council made further changes to the motorcycle clauses in the Draft Local Law, prior to adopting the final version at last night’s Council Meeting. This included adding a clause that motorised recreational vehicles must not cause offensive dust emissions, and that permits would not be required to use an electric motorbike or scooter, as long as it does not cause offensive dust emissions.

Mayor Cr Gavin Gamble says that the new Local Law sets a strong framework for all residents to enjoy their properties and rural lifestyle in Golden Plains Shire.

“Council’s new Local Law is all about ensuring our local lifestyle by balancing the activities of individuals and the enjoyment of our communities. Over the past two years, we’ve engaged with the community on how to get this balance right, and I thank everyone who has provided their feedback during the extensive consultation phases.

“The new Local Law sets a strong framework for all residents to enjoy their properties and rural lifestyle in Golden Plains Shire. It’s important we have these local laws to provide protection and ground rules that ensure there is a recourse of wellbeing and amenity protection and a reflection of community expectations for behaviour.

“In considering the Local Law, Council took the varied views of the community on board, and sought to find compromises and solutions that provide protection for peoples’ health and wellbeing, balanced with freedoms and a capacity to do things not available in neighbouring Shires. However, Council appeals to all citizens to show consideration for neighbours and to respect the rights and concerns for others you might be impacting, such as motorbike riders not riding when your neighbours are having a barbecue or when a night shift worker is trying to sleep. I would encourage everyone in the first instance to act with consideration and the desire to maintain friendly relationships with those around them.”

The adopted Local Law No. 1 is available at Council’s website: goldenplains.vic.gov.au/local-law. A printed copy will also be available on request at Council’s Customer Service Centres, 2 Pope Street, Bannockburn and The Well, 19 Heales Street, Smythesdale.

Local Law Consultation Process

In the adopted Local Law No. 1, Council made a number of changes following feedback from community members over the past two years. In addition to changing the title from Local Law No. 2 General Public Amenity to reflect it is the only Local Law, Council made several changes to motorbike, burning off, shipping container and animal keeping provisions. These changes make it less restrictive than the original draft and existing Local Law No. 2, while still balancing the disruption that some activities can cause neighbours and the community. These changes include:

Use of motorbikes on private land

Council received a mix of feedback from residents who wanted all restrictions removed on the use of motorbikes on private land and those who were concerned about the impact of neighbours riding motorbikes for large portions of the day. The new Local Law keeps some restrictions, with residents to be able to ride in most areas outside of land zoned General Residential for one or two hours each day without a permit. Residents that would like to ride for longer periods will need to seek permission from neighbours and apply for a permit from Council. Following the hearing of verbal submissions, Council agreed to exempt electric motorbikes from requiring a permit, as long as they do not cause offensive dust emissions.

Burning off

The Local Law removes all size and day requirements related to burning off contained in the original draft. The remaining conditions do not apply to BBQs and pizza ovens or to burning off for agricultural purposes.

Keeping of animals

Following community feedback, the Local Law now makes it less restrictive for residents to keep animals on their residential properties. These changes included increasing the number of horses, chickens, small birds, domestic rabbits, guinea pigs and mice allowed, as well as removing the restriction on the number of reptiles allowed to be kept.

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