With so much attention on Headstart, resource management and the System Improvements Amendment Act of late, councils may have missed the proactive release of a Cabinet paper and related documents concerning proposed reforms to the local government bylaw system.

The sector has been calling for changes for many years, including the introduction of an infringement regime. This now seems a real possibility, alongside wider changes to the bylaw framework – and is likely to proceed irrespective of who forms the next government, as changes were in contemplation under the previous government.

In this article we cover the proposed bylaw reforms, the changes and timeframes already in force for three waters and trade waste bylaws, and the new Regulatory Standards Act compliance obligations that apply to all council bylaw processes.

New secondary legislation instruments

The Cabinet Paper describes the proposal as similar to the current speed-limit setting framework, which provides for a national framework prescribing the regulatory settings and process requirements, with local decision-making focussing on where regulation should apply, using a streamlined process that remains subject to consultation.

The new secondary legislation tool will also be used where the intended regulation is highly prescriptive in nature. If Parliament has already decided what may be regulated and how, the alternative instrument will allow councils to apply that framework locally but without making a bylaw. The intended benefits are lower costs, less duplication and greater consistency, but Councils will retain the ability to make local decisions about applying the new powers, albeit within the national framework.

Parliament will establish the enabling framework and process requirements within the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) and delegate the relevant instrument-making powers. Councils would then make their local instrument under the delegated power, subject to safeguards including mandatory considerations, consultation, publication and review. Councils will only be able to use the alternative instrument where Parliament authorises it.

Two existing bylaw-making powers will be the first cabs off the rank to be converted to the new instrument power, being those under the Freedom Camping Act 2011, and the alcohol control / alcohol ban provisions in ss 147 - 147C of the LGA.

Greater central government influence

It is unclear how much "local" decision-making will be enabled under the new secondary instruments. This is because the Minister of Local Government will also be given a new regulation-making power; the reasoning being that operational changes can then be made in a streamlined manner, without further Parliamentary involvement. For example, the Minister’s regulation powers will extend to:

• setting national direction, standards or thresholds that local secondary legislation must be consistent with;

• setting model bylaws, bylaw clauses and alternative instruments, including the procedural requirements for adopting them;

• prescribing procedural requirements for making, amending and reviewing local secondary legislation;

• addressing technical matters such as definitions, scope and application.

Introduction of new enforcement options

Cabinet is proposing to allow infringement offences to be created for categories of bylaws and secondary legislation instruments. Councils will be able to set infringement fees below the national maximum set in regulations, which will provide flexibility to reflect local circumstances.

Cabinet has also agreed to introduce an abatement notice option – a formal direction requiring a person to stop, fix, or prevent an activity. Failing to comply with an abatement notice would be an offence, and Cabinet has agreed this would also be an infringement offence.

These changes will be welcomed by the sector, given the lack of proportionate enforcement tools available to incentivise compliance with bylaws (with a big gap between warnings and prosecutions).

Changes to bylaw reviews

Currently, a new bylaw must be formally reviewed within five years of being made, and then every ten years after that, with some variations in other Acts. Cabinet has agreed to move all bylaws onto a single, standard 10-year review cycle. Cabinet has also agreed that where a review concludes that a bylaw should continue unchanged, councils will no longer be required to consult on that outcome. Consultation will still be required where a review results in amendments to a bylaw, or a new bylaw.

Amendments to section 155 of the LGA are also proposed, on the basis that the current bylaw-making process lacks clarity and can require significant resources. Each of the current steps in the section 155 process seems likely to remain, but the wording will be tightened with an express requirement to consider the “wider regulatory system”.

Fee setting

Cabinet has agreed to remove bylaws as a tool for setting fees under section 150 of the LGA. Councils will instead need to set specified fees through their annual plans, continuing to meet consultation requirements. The Cabinet paper does not propose any changes in relation to charges for goods, services or amenities provided by a council, which can be set under section 12 of the LGA.

This is one part of a broader clean up: Cabinet has also agreed to remove other unnecessary and duplicative bylaw-making powers from the LGA and Local Government Act 1974, and to modernise and relocate the remaining 1974 Act provisions into the 2002 Act.

Amendments to publication requirements

Finally, there are proposals to make bylaws subject to the publication requirements in the Legislation Act 2019. Although bylaws are secondary legislation, they are not currently subject to the publication requirements. This proposal appears to align with the recent changes introduced by the Regulatory Standards Act 2025, which also apply to bylaws.

What happens now

Bylaw system reform is part of the broader Local Government System Improvements programme. These decisions are to be implemented through a Local Government Bylaws Bill.

The detail remains a work in progress, with the intention that an exposure draft be prepared, and so it may be some time before they take practical effect. With the election only days away, progress of any Bill will depend on how the next government chooses to prioritise this part of the programme.

Application of the Regulatory Standards Act 2025 to bylaws

The Regulatory Standards Act came fully into force as of 1 July 2026. It is a "regulatory quality control" statute for New Zealand's law-making process, which also applies to secondary legislation. Its purpose is to promote accountability to Parliament for the quality of legislation and stewardship of regulatory systems, and it does this by setting out "principles of responsible regulation" on the following matters: rule of law, liberties, taking of property, taxes, fees and levies, role of courts, and good law making.

One of the ways these principles are applied is through "consistency accountability statements" (CAS), which must assess new and existing legislation.

What this means in practice for council bylaws

Council bylaws are deemed "secondary legislation" under section 161A of the LGA and are therefore regulated by the Regulatory Standards Act. In practice this means new or amended bylaws need a CAS. A CAS confirms that the council reviewed the bylaw for consistency with the principles of responsible regulation. A statement must explain the reasons for any identified inconsistency and be published with the secondary legislation (bylaw).

The CAS does not replace a Council’s obligations under section 155 of the LGA but the bottom line is that councils should expect a new compliance step whenever a bylaw is made or amended, requiring a documented review of its consistency with the principles of responsible regulation.

Water Services Bylaws

New power and timeframes for water services bylaws under the LGWSA?

With the enactment of the Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025 (LGWSA), the water services bylaw related provisions in the LGA were repealed. The LGWSA now provides the bylaw-making powers for water services, and sets timeframes that must be complied with.

Importantly, the power to make water services bylaws remains with councils and does not transfer to any water organisation (WO), even where the WO will be the water service provider under the LGWSA. However, councils can (and likely will need to) delegate administration and enforcement of their bylaws to their WO.

The key deadline is 27 August 2027, which is when the initial review of all existing water services must be complete. We discuss this further below.

In terms of the key features of the LGWSA, we note that the new framework:

• builds in a consultation and comment process for WOs on any new or amended bylaws, with a WO able to propose that a council make a bylaw;

• requires that the consultation requirements in s 156 of the LGA still apply to any bylaw made under the LGWSA, but with any necessary modifications;

• contains mandatory content requirements for certain bylaws; eg wastewater bylaws must give effect to any wastewater environmental performance standards made under s 138 of the Water Services Act 2021;

• requires visibility of bylaws once made; councils and the applicable WOs must both make the bylaws freely available at their respective offices and also publish the bylaws on their websites;

• provides for an infringement regime.

What timeframes do Councils need to comply with under the LGWSA?

Initial review of bylaws where there are joint arrangements

Where there is a joint arrangement (ie multi-council owned WO) the initial review task becomes slightly more complex, as the councils must complete a joint review of their water services bylaws and will need to keep the WO informed about that review.

In practice, each council could assess its own bylaws to identify any inconsistencies with the LGWSA, and then present their separate check to the WO at the same time, or alternatively the WO could be invited to lead the review for its shareholders. The parties will need to consider what is most effective, with a focus on ensuring consistency across the relevant service area (which will assist administration and enforcement, ie as close to one set of rules as possible).

New enforcement powers in the LGWSA

The LGWSA introduces a new infringement offence regime for water services bylaws, providing more proportionate enforcement tools that have been sought for some time. This includes provision for a new compliance officer role, with powers to investigate and enforce matters generally under the LGWSA, as well as under any bylaws.

Important point: Councils (and any WOs already responsible for water service delivery) should have already appointed and warranted appropriate personnel as compliance officers under the LGWSA; a warrant as an enforcement officer to exercise powers under LGA water related bylaws may not be sufficient, given those bylaws are now water services bylaws under the LGWSA.

To take advantage of the new infringement regime, a water services bylaw (new or amended) will need to:

• specify the offences under the LGWSA that are infringement offences (which must be an offence against a section listed in paragraph (b) of the definition of "infringement offence" in s 256);

• prescribe infringement fees for those offences, not exceeding $1,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a body corporate;

• prescribe the form of infringement notices, matters to be included in infringement notices, and the form of a reminder notice.

The LGWSA does not appear to include a general infringement offence provision for breaches of any bylaw clauses that are not one of the listed offences. For those clauses, it seems the Council can only rely on s 20 of the Bylaws Act 1910, which carries a maximum fine of $500, and not as an infringement fee, but as a penalty on prosecution.

Concluding comments

While the bylaw framework is long overdue for review, there is a real potential that the scope for local variation will be reduced with a shift to the new secondary instruments and bylaws changes.

The key reason for this is that, by conferring new powers on the Minister to set national direction, standards and thresholds that secondary instruments must be consistent with, there will be less scope for the exercise of discretion by councils - not only for the subject matter, but also the actual content of the instruments and bylaws.

This framework mirrors to an extent the centralising approach taken to resource management reform, under which national policy direction issued by central government is intended to dictate much of the content of local, lower order planning documents such as land use plans.

In our experience, there will be areas where regulation could be made more uniform across the country, but for others, the approach to regulation is driven by a range of factors that could be sidelined – including local economic factors, community aspirations or concerns, and enforceability issues. These issues suggest that building in scope for consultation on the new national direction may become important, to ensure that scope for local variation is not lost.

Special thanks to Payge Swanson, Rachael Berry and Claudia O'Shannessey for their assistance in preparing this article.