Council By-Law review

City of Mount Gambier is seeking community feedback on its proposed By-Laws - the powers enacted via the Local Government Act 1999 to set certain rules about the activities permitted, activities that require permission, and activities that are prohibited in the city.

“By-Laws are used, along with a range of other mechanisms, to ensure that residents and visitors to our Council area can enjoy a clean and safe city,” City of Mount Gambier Governance and Property Manager Brittany Shelton said.

Council currently regulates activity through five By-Laws, including:

No. 1 – Permits and Penalties

No. 2 – Local Government Land

No. 3 – Roads

No. 4 – Moveable Signs

No. 5 – Dogs.

By-Laws must be reviewed every seven years. The review includes the consideration of changes in relevant legislation and compliance requirements or activities of Council, and issues of significance to the community which may be reasonably regulated by a By-Law.

“When we undertook community consultation for the 2024 – 2028 Dog and Cat Management Plan in 2023, we heard quite clearly that there was a desire for Council to take a more active role in the management of cats.”

Following the community feedback, Council is proposing to the introduce a new Cats By-Law.

“There are four key inclusions in the proposed Cats By-Law, including making cat registration mandatory, creating a ‘nuisance offence’ which will include elements such as property damage, aggressive behaviour and wandering onto private property. It will also set a limit of two cats per household, and allow Council to put containment requirements in place, such as curfews in the future.”

Additional community consultation will occur before a proposed Cats By-Law is implemented, and not all suggested provisions will be enforced from the start date of the new By-Laws - 1 January 2026.

“We would want to give cat owners some time to get used to the changes, so there would be an initial transitional grace period to enable community education prior to any enforcement of the proposed new provisions,” Ms Shelton said.

Since the last time Council reviewed its By-Laws, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) advised it objects to regulations/conditions over activities occurring on, and in bodies of water being included in Council By-Laws, as these matters are already regulated under the Harbors and Navigation Act 1993, which is the responsibility of DIT (Marine Safety).

The current regulations for activity on and in the Valley Lake/Ketla Malpi imposed by DIT for Area 1, Area 2 and Area 3 are as follows:

• A person must not take a vessel into the specified waters or cause or permit a vessel to enter or remain in the specified waters, and
• A person must not ski, aquaplane or be towed in any other manner by a vessel in the specified waters.

“The balance of the lake does not have any prohibition on swimming or use of vessels. For the community, there is no changes to the current rules for Valley Lake/Ketla Malpi, they will simply be regulated by DIT (Marine Safety) rather than Council from 1 January 2026.”

“While Council will no longer have the authority to make By-Laws which regulate activities on and in the water, we will continue to regulate who can access the water via the boat ramp facilities.

Importantly, By-Laws cannot overlap onto subject matter which is already covered by Federal or State legislation.”

The Legislative Review Committee (LRC) recommends that councils consider modernising language used to describe gender on public amenities in Council’s Local Government Land By-Law, to ensure it does not discriminate against a person that identifies as transgender, intersex or gender diverse.

“The LRC’s preference is for By-Laws to use gender neutral language rather than gender specific language e.g. ‘unisex’ or ‘all-gender’, not exclusively ‘men’, ‘male’ or ‘women’, ‘female’,” Ms Shelton said.

“This is consistent with the model clauses provided in the ‘Inquiry into Local Government Land By-laws – Public Conveniences’ tabled in both Houses of Parliament on 28 September 2022.”

The By-Law review community consultation process will be conducted in two phases, aligned to how By-Laws operate:

• Phase one: feedback on the By-Law documents themselves – Council seeks feedback on the powers contained within By-Law documents. For example, consideration if there should be a provision which enables Council to regulate dogs.
• Phase two: feedback on the application of the By-Law documents within Council’s area. For example, consideration as to where dogs should be allowed off leash.

“The current consultation is phase one, seeking feedback on the By-Laws themselves. Phase two of consultation will be conducted in the second half of 2025.”

An overview of the proposed changes and additions to the By-Laws can be found at www.haveyoursaymountgambier.com.au

Council invites community feedback by providing a submission to the proposed By-Law changes before 5:00pm on Monday 12 May 2025, by:

• Completion of an online submission form at www.haveyoursaymountgambier.com.au
• Email: city@mountgambier.sa.gov.au
• Mail: City of Mount Gambier, PO Box 56, Mount Gambier SA 5290
• In person: Civic Centre, 10 Watson Terrace, Mount Gambier.

All submissions will be presented to Council for consideration at the June 2025 Council meeting. After submissions are considered, Council will make amendments in accordance with legal advice, and endorse the final By-Laws for adoption.

Media contact: City of Mount Gambier Communications Officer Ashlea Watson on (08) 8721 2578 or awatson@mountgambier.sa.gov.au