Read-up on law changes

Community members are being urged to examine proposed changes to Baw Baw Shire’s local laws, with some of the amendments expected to have significant impacts on residents.

The draft Community Local Law document has been presented to council and is currently on public exhibition for a six week consultation period.

But, councillors have highlighted some significant changes they believe will impact community members and urged residents to have their say now before it is too late.

Some councillors said the document was flawed and created more questions than answers in regards to open air burning and animal management.

The community local laws document sets out compliance, regulatory and enforcement activities for car parking, land use and amenity, behaviour on roads and public places, animal management and building/construction sites.

Community consultation identified five priority areas that needed to be updated including increased vegetation protection, open air burning, unsightly properties and noxious weeds, noise and construction related issues; and clarification of clauses in the 2016 laws.

Among the proposed amendments are:

Open air burning - restrictions to be based on Bushfire Prone Area (BPA) rather than property zone types;

Increased vegetation protection - protection for trees identified on the significant tree register and increased penalties for offences;

Unsightly properties/noxious weeds - clearer definition of unsightly properties and provide consistency in grass length allowances, and provide allowances for grass and weeds used as fodder;

Waste management - prescribed times for leaving bins out after collection; specifications around types of waste for bins; and,

Noise and construction related issues inserted new clauses to simplify requirements in relation to construction and building sites, and provide controls on site access and hours of operation to minimise noise related issues. New permit requirements are also set for: Livestock droving, grazing and livestock crossings;

Shipping containers or relocatable buildings on any land; and,

Driving or parking on a public place or reserve, other than a public road.

Cr Joe Gauci said he had lots of issues with the way the draft document was presented.

“These local laws affect ratepayers as a whole. We don’t make two sets of rules for the mums and dads or the million dollar developers,” he said.

Cr Gauci said part one of the document related to the keeping of animals.

“I tried to find what that means for people living on a farm. We have tried to simplify it (the document) but it doesn’t give a simple explanation for people who need it.

“It’s targeted at residents in urban areas but not on farms,” he said.

Cr Peter Kostos urged people living in the farming zone to have a good read of the document and have their say.

Open air burning provisions in Baw Baw Shire’s local laws are proposed to be amended to allow “genuine fuel reduction” in bushfire prone areas.

However, some councillors are concerned the draft Community Local Laws currently on public exhibition, will mean farmers and rural landowners will have to obtain a permit every time they light an open air fire.

Land zonings have been removed as the basis for open air burning rationale.

Burning off provision will now apply to all land, not just in residential area, with the exemption of cooking and heating purposes.

For all land not in a designated bushfire prone area, the owner or occupier must obtain a permit to light a fire.

He said there were a lot of ambiguities and there was no mention of how many animals could be kept on farm properties.

For example, Cr Kostos says the local law states only two horses can be kept on land which is 4000 square metres or greater.

He said it also implies farmers who walk their cattle across the road should take a shovel and clean up afterwards.

Cr Jessica O’Donnell said there were more than 20 amendments included in the proposed local laws and people needed to consider how these changes would impact their amenity.

She said some of the amendments related to barking dogs and drones.

Consultation closes on July 22.Community members can provide feedback through Have Your Say on council’s website.

In bush prone areas, land owners and occupiers can light an open air fire if no more than two cubic metres of vegetation will be burnt on land less than 4000 square metres; or five cubic metres of vegetation on properties more than 4000 square metres.

The restrictions also prevent open air burning on a road or road reserve, council land and reserve, Crown land or any public place.

Cr Darren Wallace said he had some real concerns about the draft local laws in its current form.

He said the way the document reads, a farmer in a bushfire management overlay area can burn off whenever they want.

But, if you are a farmer outside the bushfire management overlay, you require a permit, he said.

“Land in a lower fire risk area needs a permit. There is something flawed in that logic. Farmers not covered by the bushfire management overlay aren’t getting a fair deal,” he said.

Cr Wallace said residents could do all the right things; apply for a permit to burn off, wait for the right conditions and then be ordered by council’s compliance officers to put out the fire if a neighbour complains about the smoke.

Cr Michael Leaney said as the local law currently stands, his advice to people would be “if you are going to burn off, have some marshmallows with you and claim it is a campfire.”

He said the reality was people would ignore the rules because they were unworkable.