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Regulatory powers
- Making bylaws
- What rules can they make?
- How do they decide?
- Changing bylaws
- Enforcing bylaws
- Other regulatory powers
Making bylaws
Some rules are better made close to home. Sewerage treatment or noise control regulations that worked well in Opotiki might be disastrous in Queen St, Auckland. Rules for dog control that suit Kelburn, Wellington, might be ridiculous in the Mackenzie Basin. So central government has delegated to councils the power to make regulations, called bylaws, for managing a whole range of circumstances where friction might arise in the community, or people’s health might be at risk, if there were no rules or if the rules weren’t followed.
What rules can they make?
City and district councils can pass bylaws to protect people from nuisance, to protect and maintain public health, to minimise the possibility of offensive behaviour in a public place, and to control the use of liquor in a public place. They can pass bylaws for specific purposes, such as waste control or protection of council infrastructure. They can also make bylaws under the Transport Act, the Litter Act, the Dog Control Act, and the Health Act. Regional councils can make bylaws concerning land or forests they control, and also flood protection and water supply works they undertake or commission.
How do they decide?
The Local Government Act 2002 (LGA 2002) sets out a process that councils have to follow before they can adopt a bylaw. It comprises two stages and a number of steps.
Stage one: Decide whether a bylaw is the best way
to solve the problem
The first step is to identify what actions – both regulatory and non-regulatory – might
solve the problem, and to assess the risks, costs and other impacts and the
benefits of each option.
Next, the council has to consult its community, following the special consultative
procedure required by LGA 2002 (see page 47).
Stage two: Decide whether the proposed bylaw is
the most appropriate form of bylaw.
The proposed bylaw should be drafted and then considered by council,
council officers who would be involved in implementing the bylaw,
those that might
enforce it, council committees and advisory groups, and others with an interest
in the area.
Things to check for include:
- whether there is an appropriate bylaw in the New Zealand Standard Model Bylaws
- that the council has the power to make this bylaw
- that the matter is not already dealt with under legislation or regulation
- that the bylaw can be enforced
- that the bylaw is properly drafted
- that the bylaw does not contravene any regulation or legislation
- that the bylaw does not infringe people’s rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
Changing bylaws
Generally, the process used for making bylaws is also used for amending them. However, the council can make changes without a full consultation if they are editorial changes, have minor effects, or are to do with converting imperial weights and measures into metrics. Such changes must be publicly notified.
Enforcing bylaws
Local authorities can enforce bylaws in a number of ways, including issuing infringement notices, applying for injunctions, seizing property, removing works, and recovering the costs of remedying any damage caused when a bylaw has been breached. Council can also empower the police to arrest, search and seize in relation to liquor bylaws.
Other regulatory powers
Councils can construct works on or under private land to supply water, dispose of wastes and drain land. The council must have the written consent of the landowner. If the landowner doesn’t give consent, however, the council can decide to go ahead, with the owner having the right to appeal that decision through the District Court.
Councils can do work that is required on private land if the owner doesn’t
do so after reasonable notice.
Councils also have regulatory powers to ensure that water isn’t wasted
and that sewage and trade wastes are properly discharged so that they do not
cause a health or environmental hazard.