Local laws help you understand your rights and responsibilities, and promote understanding and cooperation.
All municipalities have a set of rules known as local laws, which are enforced by local laws officers. Our local law may be different from the local laws in other municipalities.
Download the General Municipal Law
Our General Municipal Law sets out the rules that everyone must follow, and is updated as new laws are created.
Topics covered in our General Municipal Law include:
- animal noise and waste
- leaving goods on footpaths
- incinerators
- keeping animals and birds
- litter on building sites
- nature strip maintenance
- overhanging branches
- location of garbage/recycling bins
- preventing damage to Council property
- roadside selling
- unsightly land
- vehicles on private property
Procedural Matters Local Law
This local law regulates:
- how the Council Common Seal can be used
- procedures for Ordinary Council Meetings, Special Meetings, Advisory Committee Meetings, and Special Committees Meetings
- the process for electing the Mayor and Chairpersons.
Find out more about Council Meetings.
Creating new local laws
We regularly review local laws and if necessary, change them to meet our community's needs. Occasionally we will also introduce new laws to control a particular problem.
If you believe something needs to be improved or changed, you can write directly to Council or contact your ward Councillor.
We give notice of the proposed law in the Victorian Government Gazette and place a public notice in the local newspaper, Whittlesea Leader.
Anyone can then get a copy of the proposed local law from us, and make a public submission relating to the proposed local law, as stated in the Local Government Act 1989.
A Committee of Council then hears and considers any public submissions, and makes it recommendation to us.
Public submissions must be made in writing, include a clear reference to the relevant proposed local law and be addressed to:
Corporate Services
City of Whittlesea
Locked Bag 1
Bundoora MDC 3083
Public notice of new local laws
After a new local law has been created, we again give notice in the Victorian Government Gazette and place a public notice in the Whittlesea Leader, specifying:
- the title of the new local law
- the purpose and general reasoning of the local law
- that a copy of the local law can be viewed in person at our offices
A copy of the local law is then sent to the Minister for Local Government.