OUR WACKY LAWS
Failing to clean your bin and picking flowers in public could land you in hot water
DARWINITES who fail to “thoroughly cleanse” their wheelie bins once a month could find themselves in hot water with the city’s compliance officers.
Section 25 of the By-Laws Act makes a number of demands on residents in exchange for the “provision and maintenance of garbage receptacles”, including “caus(ing) it to be cleansed thoroughly, as required, and not less than once in every four weeks,” and “caus (ing) it to be returned inside the premises or to its allocated area, as soon as practicable, and not later than 24 hours after the contents have been collected by the garbage collector”.
The rubbish by-laws are among more than 200 separate rules and regulations governing the standards of behaviour expected within the bounds of the metropolis.
But even those of us engaged in more salubrious pur- suits might find ourselves falling foul of the council’s iron fist, with activities as seemingly innocuous as “to pick, pluck or take a bud, flower or other part of a tree shrub or plant in a public place” or playing a musical instrument without a permit, also banned.
And if a dog/cat/bird/croc dies on your property – congratulations! Unless you can prove otherwise, you are now a proud new pet owner.
“In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the occupier of land where an animal or a dead animal is found shall be deemed to be the owner of the animal,” Section 52 reads.
But spare a thought for the humble council officers enforcing these byzantine by-laws.
The unhappy inspector who stumbles across an errant shopping trolley can look forward to one of the most tortuous processes in bureaucracy.
“After the expiration of 28 days after the impoundment, the clerk shall cause notice of the impoundment to be published in a newspaper circulating in the municipality and, if the owner of the trolley does not respond within seven days after publication, shall publish the notice a second time,” the act reads.
“If the owner of the trolley has not, within 28 days after service of a notice under clause (2)(a) or the later of the publications under clause (3), paid to the council all expenses relating to the removal, custody and reasonable maintenance of the trolley, the council may advertise for sale and sell the trolley or, if it is not convenient to sell the trolley, dispose of it.”
“Unless you can prove otherwise, you are now a proud new pet owner”