Animal Management Bylaw Review

THIS CONSULTATION IS CLOSED.

This consultation period closed on 16 July 2021. Thank you for having your say.

We received feedback from 191 people and organisations.

Key themes included:

• majority opposition to introduce limits on beehives in urban areas
• majority support for incorporating rules about the feeding of animals on private property from another bylaw and updating the Bylaw definitions, wording, structure and format to make it easier to read and understand.

Read the feedback report for more details on the feedback given.

Changes made in response to feedback

As a result of your feedback, we decided on 25 November 2021 to adopt the proposed changes with amendments to:

• reject the proposed limits on beehives in urban areas and instead maintain the status quo – using existing beekeeping controls to address bee-related nuisance
• clarify that the beekeeping controls apply to ‘hobbyist’ beekeeping, not commercial beekeeping which is regulated by the Auckland Unitary Plan.

What happens next

The changes come into effect from 20 December 2021.

About the Animal Management Bylaw 2015

The Bylaw set rules about the keeping of animals in order to minimise risks to public health and safety, nuisance, offensive behaviour and misuse of council-controlled public places.

What we proposed

The main proposals were to:

• incorporate rules from another bylaw about the feeding of animals on private property
• update the definitions, structure, format and wording of the Bylaw and controls to make them easier to read and understand.
• Require approval to keep more than two standard beehives on urban premises with a land area less than 2000 square metres (no approval currently required).

Other aspects of the Bylaw, controls and their implementation remain unchanged, for example:

• the Bylaw focuses on the impact of animals on people
• matters already covered in existing legislation are not addressed in the Bylaw, for example, animal welfare in the Animal Welfare Act, pest control in the Biosecurity Act and Auckland Regional Pest Management Plan and dogs in the Dog Management Bylaw.
• The effect of existing rules in the Bylaw and controls for which changes are not proposed, for example, the restrictions on the ownership of stock in urban areas and conditions for riding horses on certain beaches in Auckland.