Council endorses changes to local laws following comprehensive review

Published on 23 September 2026

Gympie Regional Council has endorsed a suite of changes to its six existing local laws and the introduction of one new local law at its Ordinary Meeting this week.

The changes were endorsed following an extensive review and stakeholder consultation period aimed at ensuring the region’s local laws remain both current and reflect the needs and expectations of the Gympie community.

This means Council will continue to rely on community complaints, rather than planned inspection programs, to trigger the requirements of the Local Law. Council has also produced a series of fact sheets to make it easy to understand the changes and how they may impact individuals, organisations or businesses.

Following today’s decision, the endorsed changes will now be incorporated into Council’s six existing local laws, with a new local law to be created for Council’s aerodrome. As the final step in the legislative process, the consolidated local laws will return to Council for adoption on Wednesday 28 October.

Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig emphasised that while the changes would have minimal impact on most residents and businesses, they would provide Council officers with improved ability to address community concerns.

“Most residents and business owners already have the appropriate permits and approvals in place where required or take reasonable steps to make sure what they do on their property or how they run their business doesn’t negatively impact those around them,” Mayor Hartwig said.

“These changes are intended to make our current six local laws clearer, fairer and more consistent for our entire community, while ensuring they are workable in 2026 by providing our officers with a practical framework to respond when concerns are raised.”

The changes to Council’s existing six local laws relate to:

• temporary placement of shipping containers
• short-stay accommodation
• animal management
• feeding wildlife on private property
• waste collection and storage requirements
• keeping animals on large urban properties
• caravan parks, camping grounds, public swimming pools and shared accommodation
• temporary entertainment events
• scare guns
• electric fences
• shopping trolleys
• keeping birds, honey bees and pigeons.

Council also endorsed one new local law relating to:

• use of Council’s aerodrome.

A suite of Fact Sheets, which explain the changes, is available on Local Laws Amendments Fact Sheets | Gympie Regional Council

Mayor Hartwig said the changes addressed matters that were not adequately covered by Council’s existing local laws and had been raised by the community for many years.

“During the 2025–26 financial year, Council received more than 4,600 enquiries or, in the most part, complaints, relating to various matters covered by our local laws.” Mayor Hartwig said.

“While it is difficult to put an exact number on how many residents or businesses may be affected by any of the changes – we do know that the majority of people do the right thing.

‘Where these changes can help is in enabling Council to respond to the complaints by giving officers the tools to address the issues – that may mean just working with an individual community member to help them understand their responsibilities and to do the right thing.

“I would like to reassure the community that the changes will not trigger a deliberate program to catch people out.

“This has been one of the greatest concerns about these changes so it is important to be clear that, like our existing local laws, they will be mainly administered in response to complaints from the community rather than through proactive inspection programs.”

Mayor Hartwig said while the endorsed changes will introduce new approvals processes for particular activities, no application fees would apply to any of the new approvals or permits for the first 12 months.

“For the first 12 months, no application fees will apply to any of the new approvals or permits. During that time, Council will focus on education and awareness to help residents and businesses understand what the changes mean for them,” Mayor Hartwig said.

Mayor Hartwig also said the endorsed changes were shaped by a collaborative review process spanning more than two years.

“The endorsed changes to our local laws weren’t the result of any one submission or suggestion. They were shaped by more than two years of work involving Council staff, feedback from 191 community submissions, changes to legislation and input from relevant Queensland Government agencies,” Mayor Hartwig said.

“During this period, we received a range of concerns, suggestions and alternative approaches through formal submissions and broader stakeholder engagement. In working through that feedback, Council needed to consider whether an alternative would actually address the issue, what it would cost to implement and administer, the impact it could have on residents and businesses, and whether it met relevant State legislation and requirements.

“Together, all of that work and feedback has shaped the changes Council has now endorsed.”

To find out more, including fact sheets explaining each amendment and the new local law for Council’s aerodrome, visit Local Laws | Gympie Regional Council

ENDS