New By-laws have been endorsed by Darwin City Council, to modernise legislation and better reflect local expectations.
The new By-laws will regulate things like animal management, health and safety and public facilities.
A new addition will be a By-law allowing City of Darwin to declare ‘a special cat control area’ for reasons of biodiversity and protection.
It is also expected to change livestock rules, including limiting the number of roosters and chickens.
It will include stronger penalties for dog attacks and introduction of an additional level of infringement for dog attacks to now include dog attack, serious attack and aggravated attack
Development of the new By-laws began in September 2020 and included two comprehensive community consultations in 2021 and 2022.
There would be a 12-month transitional arrangement for this by-law, seeing it to come into effect in October 2024.
This transitional period is intended to provide enough time for alternative arrangements for roosters and chickens, and City of Darwin is committed to working with affected residents.
City of Darwin will provide further information to the public on the introduction of the new By-laws once the required legislative processes have been observed, and closer to the date of effect.
