Councils Consult On The Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw
Wednesday, 25 June 2025, 9:38 pm Press Release: Masterton District Council
The
Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa District Councils
(the Wairarapa District Councils) have opened consultation
on the Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw Ngā Ture ā-Rohe Tōpu
o Wairarapa from Wednesday 25 June 2025.
The
proposed Bylaw spans 11 parts and controls a broad range of
activities including keeping animals, licensing requirements
for tattoo and skin piercing, activities that can occur in
parks, reserves, and vehicles on beaches.
Among
the key changes are proposals
to:
prohibit vehicles from accessing the
foreshore of Castlepoint Beach that runs parallel
to Jetty Road, and limit the speed of vehicles Castlepoint
and Riversdale Beaches to 10km/h. This ensures users of the
beach can enjoy it safely.
exempt
practitioners undertaking Tā moko on a marae and
in accordance with tikanga Māori from the requirements of
Part Eight - Beauty Therapy, Tattooing and Skin Piercing.
Tā moko is considered to be a taonga (or cultural
treasure). Article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi protects
Māori rangatiratanga over taonga.
introduce
requirements for businesses using footpaths and other public
places for sandwich boards and outdoor dining. This
would ensure the pathways are accessible for other users and
do not create a safety risk (Part Two – Public Places
(including Parks and Reserves).
introduce
requirements to minimise nuisance and risk to health and
safety from the keeping of animals. This includes
new requirements on the location and number of beehives able
to be kept on urban properties, and standards for the
slaughtering of stock or poultry to ensure it is done in a
way that is not offensive to other people (Part Five –
Keeping of Animals, Poultry and
Bees).
remove the wheeled-recreational
device prohibition in the Masterton CBD and Kuripuni
shopping area. This means people would be able to
ride skateboards and scooters in these
areas.
introduce three mobile trading sites
at Riversdale Beach. This would let mobile traders,
like food trucks, sell goods in public in the permitted
areas.
Robyn Cherry-Campbell, Chair of the
Wairarapa Policy Working Group said "while the majority of
the Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw is being rolled over from
the current Bylaw, which has been functioning well, there
are a few changes being proposed.”
“We realise
there may be a little 'consultation fatigue' in the
community at the moment, however it is important for us to
know what the community think to inform our decision making,
as the Bylaw will be in place for the next five
years."
The Bylaw aims to ensure public health and
safety is maintained and to minimise the potential for
offensive behaviour in public places.
Following
consultation, the Wairarapa Policy Working Group will
consider community feedback and make recommendations back to
Council.
Consultation will open on 25 June and
close at 4pm on Friday 25 July 2025. Feedback can
be provided in a number of ways:
Completing an
online submission form
Downloading a fillable
submission form from your Council website and emailing it
to: submissions@mstn.govt.nz
Picking
up a submission form from one of our libraries or customer
service centres or print out our printer-friendly form from
the Council websites.
Posting it to Masterton
District Council, Freepost 112477, PO Box 444, Masterton
5840, or drop it off to one of our libraries or customer
service centres.
Masterton District Council 161 Queen
Street, Masterton
Carterton District Council 28
Holloway Street, Carterton
South Wairarapa District
Council 19 Kitchener Street,
Martinborough
Phoning the Masterton team
on 06 370 6300 between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday
(excluding public holidays) and telling us what you
think.
Hearings will be held in August for
anyone who would like to speak to their submission. The
Wairarapa Policy Working Group will deliberate on 19 August
with the Bylaw expected to be adopted by September and
taking effect from 1 October.
For reference the
proposed bylaw is divided into the following
parts:
Part One: Introductory
Part
Two: Public Places (including Park and
Reserves)
Part Three: Selling of Goods or Services
in Public Places
Part Four Prevention of Nuisance
and Health and Safety Risk from Fire and Smoke
Part
Five: Traffic
Part Six: Keeping of Animals, Poultry
and Bees
Part Seven: Cemeteries and
Crematoria
Part Eight: Beauty Therapy, Tattooing and
Skin Piercing
