Local laws
Under the Local Government Act 1989 (Victoria), Council has the authority to create and enforce local laws.
Local laws are intended to protect public health, safety and amenity throughout the shire. The laws are made in consultation with the community to deal with local issues and to meet local needs. They also assist Council in carrying out its functions and powers.
Council’s Local laws include offence provisions and a breach of these provisions may result in issuing of legal notices to comply, infringements and /or prosecution.
Currently Council has adopted four local laws.
General Purposes and Amenity (Local Law No. 10 and 13)
Local Law No. 10
General Purposes and Amenity (Amendment) Local Law No. 10 of 2013(PDF, 1MB) covers activities that impact the amenity of our community, such as:
- animal keeping
- activities on roads and on Council land
- roadside and footpath trading
- requirements for open air burning and incinerators
- the consumption of alcohol in public places
- asset protection and other uses and activities on private and public land that require permits.
Local Law No. 13
General Purposes and Amenity (Amendment) Local Law No. 13 of 2019(PDF, 407KB) contains technical amendments to Local Law No. 10. These amendments have been incorporated into Local Law No.10 above for easy reference.
Review of General Purposes and Amenity Local Law No.10 of 2013
Council’s current General Purposes and Amenity Local Law of 2013 is due to expire in September 2023.
Council has a legislative obligation to review and prepare a new Local Law every ten years.
Council staff conducted an internal review of our Local Law during late 2022 – early 2023, liaising with key internal and external stakeholders about how we can continue to respond to local issues, protect public and private space, and ensure safety and amenity throughout our shire over the next ten years.
Council also consulted with a number of other local councils who had recently undertaken a review of their own Local Law.
Following this review a proposed draft Community Local Law 2023 was developed, for which Council sought community feedback from 28 March - 30 April 2023. For more information and to sign-up to receive project updates, see the section below.
Proposed draft Community Local Law 2023
Council is reviewing the current General Purposes and Amenity Local Law of 2013, and proposing several improvements as the draft Community Local Law 2023.
Submissions closed on Sunday 30 April. Thank you to everyone who participated in this project.
Council will review and consolidate all responses, consider any emerging issues and make necessary refinements to the draft Community Local Law 2023, prior to being presented to Council for adoption later this year. An engagement report will also be available soon.
If you wish to be notified of the outcome, sign-up to receive project updates
Governance Local Law 2021
The purpose of Governance Local Law 2021(PDF, 195KB) is to:
- revoke the existing Meeting Procedure Local Law No 11;
- regulate the use of Council’s common seal; and
- create offences in relation to conduct at meetings and the unauthorised use of the Council’s common seal.