SOCIAL media has gone nuts… again!
This time it’s the South Gippsland Shire Council’s ‘Draft General Local Law 2024’, that has got their goat.
Here’s some of the flavour from the “draft” local laws, endorsed by the council for a final round of community consultation last Wednesday, October 18, that has them riled:
- You can’t put your bin out early, or leave it out for a couple of days.
- “Unsightly” structures on private property, including farms aren’t allowed.
- And no smelly cowsheds on the edge of town.
- All animal food must be kept in a “vermin and fly-proof receptacle” (including hay and silage, presumably).
- And no “excessive vegetation, including grass exceeding 300mm in height” on private property including farms.
Yes, it’s a draft but how does it even get that far, say angry contributors to a post of the article from this week’s Sentinel-Times on the Korumburra Community Notice Board.
- Darren Clark: Councillors obviously never worked a farm.
- Gwenda Nguyen: Forget about storing the hay and silage, we won’t be allowed to grow it in the first place!!!
- Gary Mcpherson: The council has forgotten they work for us, rates are now reaching unpayable heights, for what, just collecting bins, not listening.
- Roslyn Kitchingman: Make sure you submit your opinions and objections prior to the closing date as per the South Gippsland Shire website before November 2.
- Tony Gasperini: As a retired farmer, this must surely be a joke.
- Mish Elle: I had to check the date - after reading the articles, I thought it was April Fool’s Day.
- Jay Stagoll: Does this also mean trees must be cut down to 300mm as it states “vegetation”?
- Annette Gale: Better get my ruler out to measure the grass when I go out to feed my horse.
- Jenni Keerie: Posting your comments on Facebook really does nothing to inform the Local Laws process.
Cr Keerie urges those with objections or concerns to make a submission or take the survey, on the council’s ‘Your Say’ page at https://yoursay.southgippsland.vic.gov.au/general-local-law-review-r2
Here you will find a link to a survey which must be completed by November 2, 2023.
Among the new local laws causing angst are:
- No “unsightly” structures on private property including farms, such as a disused dairy or shed, made unsightly by the presence of old machinery or 300mm of grass etc.
- Must not allow a building located on the private property (including farms) to become dilapidated. (A building is dilapidated if the exterior of the building is in a state of disrepair or has deteriorated or fallen into a state of partial ruin as a result of age, neglect, poor maintenance… etc). For the purposes of this clause, a building includes an outbuilding, fence and any other capital improvement on the land.
- All animal food for consumption must be stored in a vermin and fly-proof receptacle (appears to include hay and silage).
- The owners and occupiers of private property, including farms, must ensure that animal waste is not offensive and does not cause a nuisance to any other person.
- Must ensure that any animal odour emanating from private property does not interfere with the immediate amenity of the area.
- Must remove any poop left by an animal on a road and be able to demonstrate to a council officer how they would remove the animals waste.
- Can’t move cattle between paddocks, across or down a roadway without a permit.
- Can’t put you rubbish bin out more than a day before collection or leave it for more than a day after collection day.
- Must destroy European wasp nests.
- Can’t park a truck in a residential areas.
- No busking without a permit.
- No political signs on a road or in a municipal place.
- No selling, collecting or distributing materials door-to-door including by religious groups. ‘Junk mail’ is still allowable. Collection of signatures for a petition also allowed.
- You can’t have more than two dogs or two cats on a residential or rural property without a permit.
- No indecent, insulting, offensive, threatening or abusive language in a municipal place
- You can’t destroy, damage, remove, prune, lop, or otherwise interfere with any tree or allow any person to destroy, damage, remove, lop, or otherwise interfere with any tree or vegetation in a municipal place or beside any roadway.
- Without a permit, a person must not place, permit to be placed, or allow to remain on a road or in a municipal place anything that obstructs the ordinary use of the road or municipal place including animal fodder.
- Without a permit, a person must not conduct or allow filming for commercial purposes on a road or on or in a municipal place.
- There had been some concern about restrictions being placed on horse riding but turns out, horses can be ridden on a nature strip so long as it’s not “a in a manner that causes damage to the nature strip”. Horses can still be ridden along the road, or when crossing roads to access the rail trail.
- A person must not paint, service, carry out maintenance on, dismantle or repair a vehicle, caravan, boat or any other thing on a road or municipal place, or authorise another person to do so, except in an emergency and only then for the purpose of removing it.
There are dozens of new or updated laws like it.
At last week’s council meeting, Cr Scott Rae recognised two of many problems he saw with the new local laws, especially for farmers like himself.
If these local laws go ahead, he acknowledged, it would become illegal for farmers to grow grass over 300mm in height (or one foot in the old measure).
“Cows eat grass and sheep eat grass, (also) silage, fodder production,” he said, referring to Section 33 ‘Unsightly and Dangerous Properties’, specifically 33(2)d where it states: Private land may become unsightly or detrimental to the amenity by the presence of “excessive vegetation, including grass exceeding 300mm in height”.
Another of his concerns was that farmers would be in breach of the new local laws if they controlled weeds beside their boundary on council’s road reserves.
Any comment, concern or objection to the new Local Laws must be received by the South Gippsland Shire Council by Thursday, November 2, see link: https://yoursay.southgippsland.vic.gov.au/general-local-law-review-r2
