Monash Council’s Local Law No 3. is due to sunset in February 2025 and Council is seeking feedback on its proposed new Local Law. The proposed Local Law is similar to the current Local Law No. 3, but it includes some additional clauses, and removes some old clauses. We seek the community’s feedback on the proposed Local Law to ensure that it responds to local issues and protects everyone’s enjoyment of public spaces where we live, work and play.
You can have your say at shape.monash.vic.gov.au/local-law-review.
To draw a distinction between the old and the new, the proposed Local Law will be called Community Safety and Amenity Local Law 2024’.
Local Laws are regulatory instruments made under the Local Government Act 2020 that enable Councils to fulfil and exercise powers, functions and duties assist in regulating local issues.
The following information about the proposed Local Law is provided in accordance with section 73 of the Local Government Act 2020.
The objectives and intended effects of the proposed Local Law are consistent with the existing Local Law as follows:
- To provide for the peace, order and good governance of the municipal district;
- To promote a physical and social environment free from hazards to health, in which the residents of the municipal district can enjoy a quality of life that meets the general expectations of the community; and
- To prevent and suppress nuisances which may adversely affect the enjoyment of life within the municipal district or the health, safety and welfare of persons within the municipal district,
with the intended effect of:
- Regulating and controlling activities of people within the municipal district which may be dangerous, unsafe or detrimental to the quality of life of other people in, or the environment of, the municipal district; and
- Providing standards and conditions for specified activities to protect the safety and the welfare of people within, and the environment of, the municipal district.
More specifically, the proposed Local Law, similar to the current Local Law No.3, creates various offences. Some of those offences include activities relating to:
- works undertaken on Council Land and Roads;
- damaging, interfering with or destroying Council land and roads or anything on it or them;
- failing to provide adequate waste services at accommodation, and failing to provide a Waste Management Plan if requested to do so;
- placing waste receptacles out prior to the allotted timeframe;
- the upkeep and security of dilapidated buildings; and
- suitable maintenance standards for land, which include safety and aesthetic considerations.
Furthermore, the proposed Local Law:
- provides for the administration and enforcement of the Local Law and empowers Council and authorised officers to issue permits, Notices to Comply, act in urgent circumstances and impound things; and
- provides for infringement notices to be issued to people whom an authorised officer has reason to believe are guilty of offences.
Council has applied a participatory community engagement process in respect of its proposal to make the proposed Local Law. This means that any person interested in or affected by the proposed Local Law may provide feedback at shape.monash.vic.gov.au/local-law-review or by written submission relating to the proposed Local Law.
All feedback and submissions received by the Council on or before 12 May 2024 will then be considered by Council before making a final decision about whether to make the proposed Local Law.
Participants will be kept informed and be provided feedback on how the input influenced the decision.
Community members can also access and review the proposed Local Law and the changes that are proposed via the link above without having to provide feedback or make a submission.
Please note that online or written submissions will form part of the public record of the Council meeting this item will be considered at. Council will take reasonable steps to de-identify those online and written submissions, and copies of those de-identified submissions may be attached to the Council report which is published on Council’s website.
A hard copy of the proposed Local Law is available for inspection by members of the public at the Council Offices and Council Libraries listed below, with a copy of the proposed Local Law also available via the PDF on the Shape Monash web page named ‘Proposed Monash Community Safety and Amenity Local Law 2024’.
Written feedback and submissions are welcome regarding the proposed Community Safety and Amenity Local Law 2024, and should be marked ‘Community Safety and Amenity Local Law 2024’ upon writing to mail@monash.vic.gov.au or to PO BOX 1, Glen Waverley VIC 3150.