Council aims to ban bikes and land yachts from Raglan beaches

Land yachts and bikes to be banned from Raglan beaches- Image New Zealand land yachting, Raglan
Land yachts and bikes to be banned from Raglan beaches- Image New Zealand land yachting, Raglan

Another one of Waikato District Council’s bylaws is up for renewal. This time it is the reserves and beaches by-law. The new one is proposing a few changes that Raglanlandic folk should have an interest in.

John Lawson said, “It seems to me that the main change is banning bicycles and sand yachts from the beaches. The old bylaw referred to motorised vehicles, the draft to vehicles. It claims to be putting WDC bylaws in line with Auckland’s, but I can’t find any bans on bicycles or yachts on their beaches and motor vehicles are allowed on two of their beaches.”

So if you have a view on this, you need to make a submission. The submission process is at https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/docs/default-source/your-council/public-consultations/statement-of-proposal—reserves-beaches-bylaw.pdf.

The submission period for the proposed Waikato District Council Reserves and Beaches Bylaw 2016 opens on 20 April 2016 and closes at 5pm on 20 May 2016.  You can pick up a submission form from the Raglan Library or make an online submission.

You can find the old reserves and beaches bylaw here:(https://wdcsitefinity.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity-storage/docs/default-source/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/bylaws/reserves-and-beaches-bylaw-2008.pdf?sfvrsn=2)

and the new draft here:
(https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/docs/default-source/your-council/public-consultations/draft-reserves-and-beaches-bylaw-2016.pdf)?

 As is sometimes the case with WDC bylaws there are some areas that are had to figure out. The draft refers to the dog bylaw, but the only easy to find rules on WDC’s website are confusing now that dogs are allowed in most CBDs – https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/services-facilities/animal-control/dogs/dog-exercise-areas. Probably that’s because the bylaw is similarly confusing – https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/docs/default-source/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/bylaws/dog-control-bylaw-2015.pdf. All they’ve done is leave a list of CBDs where dogs can be taken on a lead, which implies they’re different from other streets, which is no longer the case.

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