Success in Waipa District Council this morning

[HamBees]

Waipa District Council this morning agreed to delete their beekeeping rules out of the District Plan, and will create a bylaw dealing with nuisance issues.

This effectively makes all current and future beehives IN Te Awamutu and Cambridge fully legal, and there will be minimal interference from Council.

Their next step is to create a new bylaw during the next few weeks, with consultation with the submitters who spoke to their submissions this morning. We are hoping they will not try and include any unnecessary restrictions, but realise that in some cases, mitigating requirements may be necessary is some situations.

This is a major success in getting a Council to firstly admit their current rules were not fit for purpose, then to start the review process, take it to public consultation, and LISTEN to what they were being told. They have listened, and this brings this whole 18 month sage ALMOST to a successful close.

But please note - All beehives in Cambridge and Te Awamutu are now fully legal. There is no longer any threat of Council requiring any consent process now or in the future... Enjoy your bees....

 

[James]

See what happens when you have a sharp hivetool !

 

[Trevor Gillbanks]

Well done to everyone for their efforts. Sometimes councils will listen.

 

[Grant]

Is it only me that's thinking this celebration is slightly pre-emptive? So sure its not being dealt with by the district plan, you watch what happens when they start dealing with the bylaw, then celebrate once that's gone through as you want it to.

 

[HamBees]

Is it only me that's thinking this celebration is slightly pre-emptive? So sure its not being dealt with by the district plan, you watch what happens when they start dealing with the bylaw, then celebrate once that's gone through as you want it to.

The Panel and Council staff agreed at yesterdays meeting that the 3 people submitting at the meeting would be fully involved with the drafting of the new Bylaw, which will then go out for public consultation.

What I didn't mention was yesterday morning, prior to the Oral Submissions Hearing meeting, Mark Goodwin took the panel and Staff to visit the beehives at Te Awamutu Primary School. That definately changed the attitudes of the Staff who were there.

There was a clear acceptance that all the previous rules were wrong, and the new bylay would be about mitigating nuisance following complaints. They were provided a copy of Hamiltons Animal Nuisance Bylaw as a starting point. I can assure you that any attempt by WDC to undermine what has already been achieved will be met with an equal amount of pressure that has occurred during the last 18 months.

 

[yesbut]

The Panel and Council staff agreed at yesterdays meeting that the 3 people submitting at the meeting would be fully involved with the drafting of the new Bylaw, which will then go out for public consultation.

Sounds to me as though Waipa DC could give our mob a few lessons in openness, accountability, & ability to listen !