We’re reviewing our Animals and Bees Bylaw to ensure it's fit for purpose and meets community needs and expectations.
In October, we asked for your feedback to help us develop our draft. You told us you were generally happy with the controls we have for keeping animals, so we’ve kept most things the same – with a few key changes.
This bylaw guides the rules around keeping animals and bees
We use the Animals and Bees Bylaw to address nuisance concerns caused by people keeping animals.
The bylaw sets out the responsibilities of owners for keeping different types of animals and bees so they don’t:
- damage property
- pose a risk to the health and safety of the community
- cause a nuisance – such as loud noises or bad smells.
We’re proposing a few changes to our bylaw
Some of the changes are minor, like updates to make the wording more understandable or to reflect changes in legislation. Others are more significant. They’re outlined below.
We're proposing to reduce the age cats must be desexed from 6 months to 4
Cats may reach puberty any time after 4 months of age. Desexing by 4 months reduces the likelihood of nuisance behaviours like spraying, straying or vocalising. It would also support cat population management by preventing or avoiding unwanted breeding.
We're proposing to add a clause to our bylaw outlining the requirements for housing pigs
Adding this clause will align our bylaw with the Code of Welfare for keeping pigs.
We're proposing to add a clause to mitigate some of the nuisance bees may cause
The clause will require beekeepers to position their hives to direct the flight paths of their bee colonies away from neighbouring properties, footpaths and other public walkways. This will help to reduce nuisance caused by bees excreting on neighbouring properties, or injury from bee stings.
We're proposing to add a clause for slaughtering or processing stock and poultry
This aims to prevent nuisance from the incorrect disposal of animal waste or remains - such as offensive odour – and protect the community from potentially offensive sights, such as an animal being processed.
You can find more detailed information on our proposed changes in the Statement of Proposal.
Statement of Proposal: Draft Animals and Bees Bylaw 2024(PDF, 647KB)
Next steps
Submissions closed at 4pm on Monday 12 February.
The Strategy and Finance Committee will hear submissions on the draft Animal and Bees Bylaw at its meeting on 21 February 2024. If you’ve told us that you want to be heard by the committee, we’ll get in touch to confirm a time with you.
Once submitters have been heard, the Council will deliberate on all submissions and decide whether to adopt the draft bylaw.