Poultry, bees and other animals

We have a General Bylaw which sets out the requirements for keeping animals in the Waitaki District.

Although the Bylaw has general provisions for keeping animals in any area of the District, it has a particular focus on urban areas. Unless carefully controlled, stock and other animals in urban areas can easily become a nuisance and be offensive to neighbours. Of note from the Bylaw is the following:

  • There are special requirements for keeping poultry in urban areas - for example, you can't keep more than 12 poultry on an urban property at any one time and they must be housed in a certain way
  • Keeping pigs in any urban area within Waitaki is not permitted
  • If you want to keep beehives in urban areas, you must have a permit from Council and there are conditions
  • There are specific fencing requirements for animals in urban areas - for example, an electric fence must be at least 1 metre from any boundary line and suitably labelled to indicate it is electrified.

  • A person must not keep or allow a rooster to be kept on any Rateable Property in an urban area.

Please see the General Bylaw (See Part 5) for more details:

The Waitaki District Plan allows domestic livestock to be kept in a Residential Zone. However, the definition of ‘domestic livestock’ in District Plan restricts the number of poultry which may be kept:

Domestic livestock means

  • No pigs or their progeny in a Residential or Township Zone and not more than 12 adult poultry on any site within a Residential or Township Zone.
  • No more than 2 sows and their progeny up to weaner stage or not more than 5 weaned pigs; and not more than 50 adult poultry on any site within a Rural-Residential Zone; bred, reared and/or kept on a property;
  • Any number of livestock bred, reared and/or kept on a property for family consumption, or as pets, or for hbby purposes and from which little or no financial gain is derived.
  • No limitations on any site within the Rural G or Rural S Zones. 

Feel free to Contact us if you would like to clarify any of the bylaw information or you require a permit.

Pests

Do you have a problem with insects such as wasps on your property? If so, please contact a pest control company to discuss solutions as Council cannot take responsibility for this.

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