Local Laws Amended on 18 December 2024

The proposed amendments to seven existing Local Laws and Subordinate Local Laws have been adopted at the 18 December 2024 Council Meeting, after careful consideration of the submissions during public consultation and feedback from relevant State Departments.

“In October, Council sought feedback on minor amendments to Local Laws. In many cases, the amendments were to relax current regulations,” said Mareeba Mayor Angela Toppin.

During the consultation period between 18 October and 4 December 2024, Council received 105 formal responses and four petitions, the latter resulting in an extension of the original submission period by an additional two weeks.

Each submission was considered, however most of the comments received were in relation to matters that have been regulated under Council’s Local Laws since at least 2018 and did not relate to the current proposed amendments.

Following on from the community feedback that was applicable, two changes will be made to the proposed amendments:

It was decided not to adopt the proposed amendment regarding public place activities but rather to keep the existing provision under subsection (b) in Schedule 6 of Subordinate Local Law No. 1 (Administration) 2018. This means that events in public places with fewer than fifty people do not require a permit. It was decided not to adopt the proposed amendment regarding the requirement to desex an animal but rather keep the original provision in Schedule 3 of Subordinate Local Law No. 2 (Animal Management) 2019 which will not require animals to be desexed.

The final versions of the amended Local Laws are listed below.