Yarra Ranges Council’s new local laws have been formally endorsed, with community feedback shaping rules around burning off, fireworks and short stay accommodation amongst many others.
The Neighbourhood Amenity Draft Local Law (2020) is a refresh of the council’s local laws, which must occur every 10 years.
The local laws aim to support safe communities for everyone, while balancing the needs of residents, businesses and visitors.
Councillors formally endorsed the local laws for a period of 10 years at their 25 August meeting.
The new local laws will come into effect on 14 September.
The draft laws were created using feedback from more than 800 community members, and the community was given a chance to comment on the draft through June and July.
The council’s communities director, Jane Price, thanked the community for their feedback, which resulted in changes to many of the local laws.
“We’re proud to have a community in Yarra Ranges that’s very engaged with its Council and a great example is the thoughtful feedback we received to our draft local laws,” Ms Price said.
“As a result, we’ve made changes to the laws to respond to emerging issues and changing views in the community and to enhance safety and amenity for everybody.
“We’ve also increased the number of substantiated complaints needed for Council to take action on short stay accommodation properties, to ensure that property owners have time to rectify any issues raised in complaints.
“However, we’ll be working with owners after any complaint to help resolve these issues – education is always our priority, over enforcement action.”
Changes to the local laws include:
Introducing a permit system for the use of fireworks in Yarra Ranges.
Keeping June as a prohibited period for burning off in bushland areas of Yarra Ranges (June and July will remain no-burn-off months for bushland areas).
Keeping the maximum number of cats to be owned per property at two, before a permit is needed.
Roosters will continue to be allowed to be kept on properties less than one acre in size, once owners have sought a permit from Yarra Ranges Council.
It was proposed that the council would take action on short stay accommodation properties when two or more nuisance complaints (with evidence) were received. Following community feedback, this number has been increased to three per 12 month period. Yarra Ranges Council officers will work with short stay accommodation owners to prevent further nuisances occurring when complaints are received.
To read all of the local laws in detail, including a community impact statement, visit yarraranges.vic.gov.au/locallaws.
