20 hours ago
Councils Consult On The Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw
The Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa District Councils (the Wairarapa District Councils) have opened consultation on the Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw Ngā Ture ā-Rohe Tōpu o Wairarapa from Wednesday 25 June 2025.
The proposed Bylaw spans 11 parts and controls a broad range of activities including keeping animals, licensing requirements for tattoo and skin piercing, activities that can occur in parks, reserves, and vehicles on beaches.
Among the key changes are proposals to:
prohibit vehicles from accessing the foreshore of Castlepoint Beach that runs parallel to Jetty Road, and limit the speed of vehicles Castlepoint and Riversdale Beaches to 10km/h. This ensures users of the beach can enjoy it safely.
exempt practitioners undertaking Tā moko on a marae and in accordance with tikanga Māori from the requirements of Part Eight - Beauty Therapy, Tattooing and Skin Piercing. Tā moko is considered to be a taonga (or cultural treasure). Article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi protects Māori rangatiratanga over taonga.
introduce requirements for businesses using footpaths and other public places for sandwich boards and outdoor dining. This would ensure the pathways are accessible for other users and do not create a safety risk (Part Two – Public Places (including Parks and Reserves).
introduce requirements to minimise nuisance and risk to health and safety from the keeping of animals. This includes new requirements on the location and number of beehives able to be kept on urban properties, and standards for the slaughtering of stock or poultry to ensure it is done in a way that is not offensive to other people (Part Five – Keeping of Animals, Poultry and Bees).
remove the wheeled-recreational device prohibition in the Masterton CBD and Kuripuni shopping area. This means people would be able to ride skateboards and scooters in these areas.
introduce three mobile trading sites at Riversdale Beach. This would let mobile traders, like food trucks, sell goods in public in the permitted areas.
Robyn Cherry-Campbell, Chair of the Wairarapa Policy Working Group said "while the majority of the Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw is being rolled over from the current Bylaw, which has been functioning well, there are a few changes being proposed.'
'We realise there may be a little 'consultation fatigue' in the community at the moment, however it is important for us to know what the community think to inform our decision making, as the Bylaw will be in place for the next five years."
The Bylaw aims to ensure public health and safety is maintained and to minimise the potential for offensive behaviour in public places.
Following consultation, the Wairarapa Policy Working Group will consider community feedback and make recommendations back to Council.
Consultation will open on 25 June and close at 4pm on Friday 25 July 2025.
Feedback can be provided in a number of ways:
Completing an online submission form
Downloading a fillable submission form from your Council website and emailing it to: submissions@
Picking up a submission form from one of our libraries or customer service centres or print out our printer-friendly form from the Council websites.
Posting it to Masterton District Council, Freepost 112477, PO Box 444, Masterton 5840, or drop it off to one of our libraries or customer service centres.
Masterton District Council 161 Queen Street, Masterton
Carterton District Council 28 Holloway Street, Carterton
South Wairarapa District Council 19 Kitchener Street, Martinborough
Phoning the Masterton team on 06 370 6300 between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) and telling us what you think.
Hearings will be held in August for anyone who would like to speak to their submission. The Wairarapa Policy Working Group will deliberate on 19 August with the Bylaw expected to be adopted by September and taking effect from 1 October.
For reference the proposed bylaw is divided into the following parts:
