Urban Environments Bylaw 225

The Urban Environments Bylaw covers many things that help us coexist harmoniously in our city and neighbourhood spaces.

It includes the management of public health, safety and nuisance, trading in public places, the control of alcohol in public areas, keeping animals on your property, management of reserves, and burials and cremations.

Nelson City Council engaged with the public to seek their views in late 2021 as part of a regular review process designed to ensure the Bylaw is still fit for purpose, serving the community, and keeping up with change. 

At a full Council meeting on 10 May 2022, elected members voted to accept some changes to the Urban Environments Bylaw (2015), and address some of the public feedback in other ways.

The amended Urban Environments Bylaw came into effect on 1 June 2022.

What has changed

The current Bylaw is working well, and only a small range of issues have arisen since it was last reviewed in 2015.

Consequently, most of the current Bylaw will remain the same, and where there are issues, Council has made some changes.

The changes reflect feedback we’ve had from the community, for example, people feeling unsafe in Neale Park because of the danger of being struck by a golf ball.

The permission to play golf in Neale Park has been removed, with the new Bylaw specifying that no one is to practise or play golf in any area or reserve other than Waahi Taakaro Golf Course.

Other changes which have been made to the Bylaw:

  • The speed limit for vehicles in reserves has been removed from the Bylaw. Speed limits can be more effectively enforced through the Land Transport Act 1998.
  • The ‘caravans for residential purposes’ provision has been removed from the Bylaw. Instead, use of caravans in residential areas will be managed through Council’s planning rules.
  • Some tweaks and minor wording changes have been made to ensure the bylaw provisions are clear, to avoid repeating the Local Government Act, and to make the Bylaw more legally robust.

What is staying the same but being addressed in another way

There will be no change to the current rules relating to retail displays like sandwich boards on footpaths. Following feedback from submitters the Bylaw will retain the requirement for a two metre width of footpaths to remain clear so that it is available to pedestrians. Instead, a comprehensive assessment of structures on footpaths will occur when Council reviews the City Amenity Bylaw later in 2022.

There are no changes to the current list of public places where alcohol is not permitted. However, in response to a submission from residents, elected members have asked Council staff to report back on the option of adding an area in The Wood to this list. 

There were requests to manage cats, particularly in relation to microchipping and desexing. Time is required to consider these matters, and staff will report back on this issue by August 2022.

Copies of the bylaw are available at the Customer Service Centre and can be downloaded from the link below.

Downloads