Tauranga dog owners may soon need to adjust how they get out and about with their pets. Photo / NZME
Tauranga dog owners could soon face tighter rules for accessing beaches, paths and public spaces under a refreshed set of council bylaws.
The proposed changes also include new licence requirements for anyone wanting to keep more than two dogs or six chickens on a property.
Cats, however, remain untouched by the new rules.
The proposed new rules in the Dog Management Bylaw and Policy, and Keeping of Animals Bylaw, were approved for public consultation in a Tauranga City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Most of the changes apply to dog rules, with the council saying the purpose of the bylaw was to balance opportunities for dogs and their owners to exercise, socialise and enjoy the city, with the need to minimise danger, distress or nuisance, and to protect public safety and enjoyment, as well as vulnerable wildlife.
The council has proposed extending seasonal dog restrictions in Mount Maunganui’s Shark Alley to be year-round.
Dogs are already banned year-round from Pilot Bay, Mauao, Mount Maunganui Main Beach and Moturiki (Leisure Island), but the ban on the next beach along, Shark Alley, is currently only August to January.
The council also wants to prohibit dogs in the adjacent coastal dunes, grassed area, boardwalk and greenspace up to the Marine Parade kerb, unless they are passing through leashed via an accessway.
These changes aimed to reduce harm to native wildlife such as the NZ dotterel, native skinks, diving petrels and kororā.
They came after lobbying from community wildlife groups and the Department of Conservation asking the council to take steps to better protect threatened species.
The rules include exemptions, such as for disability assist dogs and transiting.
Dogs are currently required to be on leash on footpaths, but not on paths in parks and reserves, or in urban space.
The revised bylaw adds leash rules to several paths and areas that tend to be busier, or where it could help protect heritage values.
Dogs would need to be leashed on the Marine Parade Coastal Path, Pāpāmoa Shared Path, Beach Rd Pathway, heritage reserves, Masonic Park, Red Square, and the CBD waterfront from the Cargo Shed to the base of the Matapihi bridge.
Dogs would also be banned from cemeteries and burial grounds, on active recreation equipment and in fenced play spaces designed for young children or disabled people.
The council said dogs in cemeteries and burial grounds could be offensive to some people and there had been issues with dogs fouling, while the equipment and play space bans would help protect children.
Dogs could still visit cemeteries with approval from the facility’s manager.
The bylaw would require a licence for people to have more than two dogs on a property. That was in addition to the existing rule that limited dogs to two per owner.
The council also intended to create a licence process for people wanting to walk more than four dogs at once – a limit introduced the last time the council reviewed the dog bylaw, despite opposition from some dog walkers.
Licences would also be needed to keep more than six chickens in a residential zone or any poultry other than chickens in a residential zone.
The 2018 bylaw said people had to have a licence to own more than 12 poultry.
The licence process would include conditions such as a property check.
The draft animal bylaw does not include any new provisions for cats.
The council said while managing cats would help reduce their impact on wildlife, current legislation made enforcement difficult.
The Dog Control Act allowed for the controlling and impounding of uncontrolled dogs but no such legislation existed for controlling cats.
The council said the welfare of cats was controlled by the Animal Welfare Act administered by the SPCA.
The council wants a more flexible, common‑sense way to handle complaints about urban beehives, especially complaints about bee droppings.
Currently, staff have to prove a specific hive is causing a problem before they can require its removal, which is often impossible because wild bees look and behave the same.
This leads to long investigations and disputes that rarely result in action.
Under the proposed amendment, the council could respond in more proportionate ways, such as giving advice or education, rather than jumping straight to removing hives.
It would reduce time spent on neighbour conflicts while still allowing intervention when there is a genuine nuisance.
The council’s public consultation process for the revised bylaws will begin on June 1, ending on July 1.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Ayla Yeoman is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.