Feedback sought on updated general local law

AT WEDNESDAY’S (South Gippsland) Council Meeting, Council endorsed a draft General Local Law for consideration by the South Gippsland community. The draft document was developed following significant community engagement earlier this year.

The first round of consultation featured comments from 261 people who provided input regarding the Local Law. Feedback was obtained via a community survey, community meetings, written submissions and seven pop-up events held across the region.

Findings from the initial consultation showed that most people who responded did not have any significant concerns with the current General Local Law, which is currently in operation.

Council is legally required to update the Law by March 2024, before the current legislation expires.

Of those who expressed concern, most issues raised were related to the control of domestic animals – dogs on leashes and cats contained to properties – camping, and vehicles and road use.

After a ten-year period, the updated draft General Local Law does have some new laws proposed.

Council has tried to ensure the proposed changes are reasonable, by using the previous General Local Law as a base and updating it according to today’s standards. This is in-line with what we heard from our community during the first round of engagement.

Additionally, Council has also sought to simplify and reduce the General Local Law where possible, by removing redundant Laws that have been superseded by other state-wide legislation, for example the Environmental Protection Act (EPA).

To help the community understand the changes, an old versus new comparison document has been completed, along with new easier to understand codes, that will support the General Local Law, once adopted. These documents can be viewed at: yoursay.southgippsland.vic.gov.au

Feedback closes on Thursday November 2.