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Part 8 Nuisances

This part of the bylaw aims to protect the quality of the environment from nuisances caused by burning, deposit of rubbish and offensive matter, indiscriminate placing of exterior lighting, dampness, animal pests and noise.

This part of the bylaw is made under the Local Government Act 1974 and the Health Act 1956. It is complementary to the Litter Act 1979, the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Public Places Bylaw.

1.0 Interpretation
This part of the bylaw shall be in addition to the provisions of Part 1 Introductory and if this part of the bylaw is inconsistent with Part 1 Introductory then the provisions of this part of the bylaw shall prevail.

SMOKE includes any fumes, gases, dust, soot, grit, or other matters produced in the process of combustion.

2.0 Burning, smoke, dust and fumes
2.1 No person shall burn, or permit to or suffer to be burnt, any outdoor fire (including garden or incinerator fires) in or near an urban area, unless all of the following conditions are met:

Burning
a) No part of the fire shall be located within 3m of an adjoining property boundary. The fire, shall be properly managed to ensure efficient burning, and shall be kept under control of the owner or occupier of the property at all times when the fire is burning.

Distance
b) Waste materials being burnt shall be restricted to dried garden waste and normal day-to-day household items, e.g. paper and easily combustible wastes. No plastics, furniture, tyres or other materials likely to emit toxic or offensive odours or smoke is permitted to be burnt.

Materials burnt
c) The fire shall be burnt during daylight hours only and every effort shall be made to burn the fire in the early morning or late evening to minimise effects of the fire on neighbours.
d) No fire shall be burnt in such a manner as to cause a nuisance to nearby residents from smoke and/or odour, ash, toxic fumes from the fire. No fire shall be lit, in wind conditions likely to convey or which conveys smoke, odour or ash from the fire onto a nearby residents property or other property in an urban area. In the event of a wind change resulting in smoke or other waste material from the fire being directed onto a neighbouring property, the fire shall be immediately extinguished.

Control of smoke
e) Where any nuisance is deemed to be created by an outdoor fire in an urban area, the person in charge of that fire shall take all reasonable actions as directed by an Authorised Officer, and where considered necessary the fire may be extinguished by an authorised officer using such assistance as deemed necessary.
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Costs
In the event that a nuisance is deemed to be created at the time by any fire, the person responsible for lighting or in charge of the fire, shall be required to pay any reasonable costs involving the investigation and action by an authorised officer, in addition to any penalty provisions for non compliance with the bylaw.
This part of the bylaw shall not apply to any fire used for any cooking purposes, namely a barbecue, as defined in Part 6 Fire Prevention of this bylaw, or umu or hangi. All reasonable steps must however be taken to minimise or prevent nuisance to neighbours or nearby property.

2.2 No occupier of any premises shall permit smoke, noxious fumes or other matter to be emitted from any chimney, fireplace, barbecue, incinerator or other device on such premises to such an extent as to cause a nuisance to persons in the vicinity. Where in the opinion of an authorised officer a nuisance is being caused, the authorised officer may require the nuisance to be abated to his satisfaction immediately.

2.3 No person shall cause a nuisance or annoyance by allowing the escape of dust or sawdust from any premises.

3.0 Offensive matter and refuse
3.1 No person shall deposit, or permit or suffer to be deposited, or to accumulate any refuse or litter as defined in the Litter Act 1979 or rubbish of any description including sawdust, plastics, materials, waste paper, shavings, filth, tins, glass, rags, straw, garden refuse, tree or grass cuttings, iron, steel metals or chemicals on any land not being a place set apart for such purpose by the council or in compliance with the Resource Management Act 1991 and any requirements of the Taranaki Regional Council unless sufficient precautions are taken to prevent the creation of a nuisance or anything offensive or likely to be injurious to health.

3.2 No person shall bury or permit or allow to be buried any refuse or offensive rubbish or matter in any garden, or other places not being a place set apart for such purpose by the council, unless in so doing sufficient precautions are taken to prevent the creation of a nuisance or anything offensive or likely to be injurious to health.

3.3 No person shall deposit or allow to be deposited any dung, manure, fertiliser, or refuse, unless it is immediately incorporated with earth for garden purposes, or satisfactorily covered over, to prevent the escape of effluvia, the establishment of a breeding place for flies or vermin, or the creation of any nuisance.

3.4 No person shall permit or suffer to remain overnight or for any unnecessary length of time during any part of the day or night in any place a vehicle containing or which recently contained manure, offal, offensive matter or thing likely to cause a nuisance or be offensive to or injurious to health.

3.5 No person shall throw or leave, or permit or suffer to remain any dead animal vermin or offal on any private property, public place, land or premises. This part of the bylaw shall not apply to the management of carcasses in a rural area when such carcasses are to be removed by a recognised collector and providing no nuisance is created.
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4.0 Rats, vermin and insects
4.1 a) No person shall cause, permit, or suffer any refuse, waste matter, material, or thing to remain or be kept in such a manner or for such a time as to afford shelter or likely harbourage for rats, or encourage rats or other vermin to visit and frequent, or be in such a building, land, or premises.
b) No person shall neglect in any building, land, or premises where rats or other vermin exist or are harboured, or in which there is evidence of such existence, or harbouring, to destroy rats by poisoning or trapping, or such other means as an authorised officer of the council may direct.
c) No person shall fail to remove or obliterate nests, burrows, or habitual haunts of rats in any such buildings, land or premises.

4.2 The owner or occupier of any building, land, or premises where conditions exist giving rise or likely to give rise to the breeding of flies, mosquitoes or other insects dangerous to health or likely to cause a public nuisance shall execute and do such disinfecting, spraying or applying of larvicide, cleansing, screening, removal or destruction of breeding grounds or places as may be necessary to prevent the breeding of flies, mosquitoes or such other insects.

4.3 The owner of any land or premises upon which any stagnant water, drainage, or other impure water collects shall immediately upon receiving notice from an authorised officer cause such land or premises to be effectually drained or filled up so as to prevent the collection of any such stagnant water, drainage, or other impure water.

5.0 Construction work
5.1 On every demolition, land development or building site the contractor or person in charge of operations shall use the best practicable option to minimise noise, vibration, dust, or the emission of fumes, where any such noise, vibration, dust or fumes, or a combination of these is likely to cause nuisance or annoyance to persons in any public place or in the vicinity of any public place, or in the vicinity of that site.

In this clause “practicable” means reasonably practicable, having regard, amongst other things, to local conditions and circumstances to the financial implications, and to the current state of technical knowledge, and “practicable means” include the provision and maintenance of plant and the proper use thereof and the proper supervision of any operation connected therewith.

5.2 The discharge of any noise, vibration, dust or the emission of fumes shall be in compliance with the Resource Management Act 1991 and any relevant requirements of the Taranaki Regional Council.
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6.0 General nuisance provisions
6.1 No person shall do or cause to be done or permit or allow anything whereby a nuisance, as determined by an authorised officer, of any kind not mentioned or prohibited by this or any other bylaw for the time being in force, shall exist.

6.2 No person shall cause, permit, or suffer any drain, water closet pan, receptacle, material or thing, stable, fowl-house or fowl-run, dog kennel, pigeon house outhouse, or yard on any land or premises within the District to be or become a nuisance, or by any neglect or default on the part of such person to cleanse the same, to cause an offensive smell to be created.

6.3 No person shall fail to keep all such building and premises and all cellars, outbuildings, and sanitary conveniences belonging to them in a clean condition. No person shall fail, when required by an authorised officer, and within the time directed, to cause the premises or such part as the authorised officer may order, to be effectually cleaned and as far as practicable, cause such house or building to be so repaired, altered or reconstructed as to prevent the ingress or harbourage of rats or other vermin.

6.4 If there exists a nuisance on any premises such that, in the opinion of an authorised officer immediate action is necessary to abate the nuisance, the authorised officer may with such assistance as may be necessary, enter on the premises and abate the nuisance without notice to the occupier.

6.5 All expenses incurred in the abatement of a nuisance under this part of this Bylaw shall be recoverable from the owner or occupier of the premises in respect of which the costs are incurred.

6.6 No person shall, without the prior permission in writing of an authorised officer, bury, or permit or allow to be buried, any night soil or cast or deposit, or allow such night soil to flow or enter into any sewer, or into any drain connected therewith, otherwise than by means of a sanitary fitting or approved fixture.

7.0 Control of noise
7.1 Every alarm system in, upon or fixed to any land, building or vehicle shall be fitted with an automatic cut-out device such that within 20 minutes of first sounding the alarm shall automatically cease to sound.

7.2 Every person commits a breach of this part of the bylaw where such person is the owner or occupier of any land, building or vehicle, which does not:
a) In the case of an existing alarm system within 180 days of this part of the bylaw coming into force, comply with clause 7.1 of this part of the bylaw hereof; or
b) In the case of an alarm system fitted after the commencement of this part of the bylaw comply with clause
7.1 of this part of the bylaw.

7.3 Nothing in this part of the bylaw shall be deemed to prevent or prohibit the sounding of any siren, bell, alarm, or other warning device on any fire appliance or ambulance, or any vehicles conveying any police officer, traffic officer, fire officer or ambulance officer in the execution of their duties, or any medical practitioner in case of emergency.
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