Have your say on Kaipara’s proposed new Bylaws

16 Sep, 2021

Kaipara District Council (KDC) is proposing changes to the Stormwater Drainage and Wastewater Drainage Bylaws and is asking the community for input before it is finalised.

As part of the review of the Consolidated General Bylaw last year, which contain 11 different Parts, feedback from the community included that it is a very big document, which makes it difficult to understand and find the relevant information. The Council agreed and has started a rolling review of each of the Parts to create ‘standalone’ bylaws. The first Part to be reviewed was Part 11 – Land Drainage and Council is now proposing to remove Part 11 from the Consolidated General Bylaw and create a new Stormwater Drainage Bylaw.

The content and approach of the new Bylaw, which is mainly about protecting the Council’s stormwater and drainage assets to support community health and safety, remains unchanged. The wording has been reviewed and simplified and some additional explanatory notes have been added.

Council’s Wastewater Drainage Bylaw was made in 2016 and it is a legal requirement that it is reviewed within five years. The purpose of this Bylaw is similar to the Stormwater Drainage Bylaw, it is designed to protect Council’s wastewater drainage network. It also includes provisions to ensure that onsite wastewater systems in residential and coastal areas of the District are appropriately maintained to protect public health and safety.

When the Bylaw was made, Council also adopted a Wastewater Drainage Policy to support the Bylaw. The review showed that some parts of the Policy would be better placed within the Bylaw and some elements are more operational and not required. The Bylaw has also been re-written to make it easier to understand and is written in a more ‘plain English’ style to support this.

Council is keen to hear what the community thinks about these proposed new Bylaws before finalising them.

Details on the proposed changes can be found on kaipara.govt.nz/haveyoursay. Hard copies will be available at KDC offices and libraries as long as they are open to the public, depending on what covid level the District is in. If you would like to know more but don’t have internet access, contact Council on 0800 727 059 and staff are happy to send you the relevant documents.

Instead of holding a hearing, we are providing people who want to tell us their thoughts by speaking to us the opportunity to book a ‘Chat with a Councillor’ session. These sessions will be held in early November.

Written submissions are open from 20 September to 20 October, and can be completed through the website, over the phone with Council or by hardcopy or email.