Ridiculous red tape sees lolly scrambles banned

Local Government Minister Paula Bennett said "People quite rightly feel that there are too many costly rules." Photo / Paul Taylor

Banning lolly scrambles, reclassing a farm that happened to be in the flight path of rare birds and having to use a harness on a step ladder are just some of the ludicrous regulations people have had to endure.

However, the red tape rules are changing and the Government has announced it has increased the length of time by two weeks that people can make submissions about easing bureaucracy.

The closing date for submissions to the Rules Reduction Taskforce (RRT) is now June 15, Local Government Minister Paula Bennett said.

The taskforce, co-chaired by MP Jacqui Dean and Michael Barnett, has held 46 well-attended community meetings around the country and heard from a mixture of property owners, businesses, tradespeople, and councils.

A further 657 submissions had been received online.

"People quite rightly feel that there are too many costly rules that are unnecessarily bureaucratic and there isn't enough flexibility in their application," Ms Bennett said.

"One example came from a man who was told the gaps between his fence palings were too small and had to be 25mm, even though he had three large dogs and it would create a risk for small children putting their fingers through.

"Fundamentally, the taskforce is finding that there has been too much emphasis on enforcement, and not enough on how rules affect people."

Bureaucratic lunacy

•Members heard of a planned Santa Parade where the customary lolly scramble and accompanying water squirting was to be banned due to safety concerns. Presumably the concern was that children could get injured by airborne lollies.

•A farmer told the RRT that his land was going to be classified as a Significant Natural Area, with rules around what he could do on his land. The reason for the classification was because rare birds flew over his land. Council acknowledged that the birds never landed, swam, nested or mated there. Just that it was a flight path. They also required him to turn his vehicle lights off at night.

•An architect told the RRT he was informed by the council that a previously acceptable square profile handrail was no longer acceptable, the reason being that the example drawing in the Building Code is different - it shows a rounded profile. RRT was told that a rounded profile handrail costs three times more than a square one as it has to be custom made.

•The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 requires that if there is a potential for a person at work to fall from any height, reasonable and practicable steps must be taken to manage that hazard. However the RRT are hearing many complaints about how these rules play out in practice: "Three-step ladders are now being made illegal to use - if you go above 800mm you must be harnessed or the property must be fully scaffolded etc."

(Source: Paula Bennett's office)