Local Government (General) Regulation 2021

This Regulation is the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021.

This Regulation commences on 1 September 2021.

Note.

This Regulation replaces the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005, which is repealed on 1 September 2021 by section 10(2) of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989.

In this Regulation—

approval, for Part 2, Division 7—see section 81A.

AS 5200.000—2006 means AS 5200.000—2006, Technical specification for plumbing and drainage products, Part 000: Procedures for certification of plumbing and drainage products, published by Standards Australia.

building includes a proposed building.

Category 1 business activity has the same meaning as in the Pricing and Costing Guidelines.

Category 2 business activity has the same meaning as in the Pricing and Costing Guidelines.

environmentally sensitive area includes—

land or an area listed in the definition of environmentally sensitive area in Part 4 of Schedule 3 to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, and

any land or area—

within 100 metres of a natural waterbody, wetland or coastal dune field, or

with a high watertable, or

with highly permeable soils or acid sulphate, sodic or saline soils, or

within a drinking water catchment, or

within the water catchment area of an estuary where the entrance to the sea is intermittently open.

house drain means that part of the sewerage service that conveys (or is intended to convey) the discharges from soil pipes and waste pipes on premises.

house service pipe means such part of a water service pipe as is not a property service pipe.

inspector means an employee of the council who is an authorised person for the purposes of exercising the functions of an inspector under this Regulation.

interceptor trap or boundary trap means a trap for preventing the passage of air or gases from the sewer to the house drain, being a trap located at some point between the sewer and the lowest inlet of the house drain.

licensed contractor, in relation to carrying out water supply, sewerage or drainage work, means the holder of a contractor licence in force under the Home Building Act 1989 that authorises the holder to carry out that work.

Liquid Trade Waste Management Guidelines means the Guidelines of that name produced by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment in 2021, as in force from time to time.

Local Aboriginal Land Council means a Local Aboriginal Land Council constituted under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983.

New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council means the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council constituted under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983.

pan means any moveable receptacle kept in a closet and used for the reception of human waste.

penalty notice means a notice served under section 679 of the Act.

Plumbing Code of Australia means the document entitled the Plumbing Code of Australia, produced for all State governments by the Australian Building Codes Board, as in force from time to time.

Pricing and Costing Guidelines means the document entitled Pricing & Costing for Council Businesses—A Guide to Competitive Neutrality originally issued by the Department of Local Government in July 1997, as in force from time to time.

principles of competitive neutrality has the same meaning as in the Pricing and Costing Guidelines.

property service pipe means such part of a water service pipe as lies between the service main and the water meter or, if there is no water meter, the boundary of the premises served by the service pipe.

public sewer means a sewer operated by a council or a county council, a water supply authority (within the meaning of the Water Management Act 2000), a State owned corporation specified in Schedule 1 or 5 to the State Owned Corporations Act 1989 (or a subsidiary of such a corporation) or any other public or local authority.

qualified supervisor, in relation to the carrying out of water supply, sewerage or drainage work, means the holder of an endorsed contractor licence or supervisor certificate in force under the Home Building Act 1989 authorising the holder to carry out or to supervise that work.

recognised approval, for Part 2, Division 7—see section 81A.

recognition certificate, for Part 2, Division 7—see section 81A.

related effluent application area, in relation to a sewage management facility, means the area of land (if any)—

where it is intended to dispose of the effluent and any by-products of sewage from the facility, or

to which the effluent and by-products are intended to be applied.

relevant activity, for Part 2, Division 7—see section 81A.

rural and remote council means a council designated in Part 13, Division 15 as a rural and remote council.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

septic tank means a fixed receptacle of watertight material used in connection with the storage or bacterial treatment of sewage.

service main means a water main or a sewer main.

sewage includes any effluent of the kind referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of waste in the Dictionary to the Act.

sewage management facility means—

a human waste storage facility, or

a waste treatment device intended to process sewage,

and includes a drain connected to such a facility or device.

sewage of a domestic nature includes human faecal matter and urine and waste water associated with ordinary kitchen, laundry and ablution activities of a household, but does not include waste in or from a sewage management facility.

sewer main means a sewer main forming part of the council’s sewerage system, and—

includes risers or junctions provided by the council to enable a sewerage service to be connected to the main, and

if the main is located outside premises that are to be served—includes risers and the sewers and fittings connecting the main to the premises, but only up to the boundary of the premises or, if a boundary trap or interceptor trap is installed, up to the trap.

sewerage service, in relation to premises—

means the pipes, fittings or fixtures used or intended to be used in connection with the premises for the purpose of conveying sewage or permitted discharges from the premises to the council’s sewerage system, and

if a septic tank is installed on the premises and connects or is intended to connect (directly or indirectly) with the council’s sewerage system—includes a septic tank (other than a septic tank intended to discharge to a related effluent application area), an effluent tank or a sullage tank.

soil pipe means any pipe that conveys the discharge from human waste storage facilities, or from operating theatres or morgues, to the house drains.

the Act means the Local Government Act 1993.

trade waste means all liquid waste other than sewage of a domestic nature.

trap means any fitting designed to retain a quantity of water to prevent the passage of air or gases through such fitting.

waste pipe means any pipe that conveys discharges to a house drain from fixtures (other than human waste storage facilities) or operating theatres or morgues.

water main means a water main forming part of the council’s water supply system, and, if premises are or are to be connected to the main, includes water pipes and fittings connecting the main to the premises to the point within the premises at which the water meter is or is to be installed.

water service pipe means a pipe that connects premises to a water main.

Note.

The Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Regulation.

Notes included in this Regulation do not form part of this Regulation.

Except as elsewhere provided in this Regulation, this Regulation—

applies to those parts of the State that are constituted as areas for the purposes of the Act, and

applies to county councils in the same way as it applies to councils.

Note.

The application of this Regulation to joint organisations is dealt with in section 397A.

This Part does not apply to—

the installation of manufactured homes, moveable dwellings or associated structures on land, or

the operation of manufactured home estates, caravan parks or camping grounds.

Note.

The operation of manufactured home estates and the installation of manufactured homes in manufactured home estates, and the operation of caravan parks and camping grounds and the installation of moveable dwellings (including manufactured homes) both in caravan parks and camping grounds and elsewhere, are governed by the Local Government (Manufactured Home Estates, Caravan Parks, Camping Grounds and Moveable Dwellings) Regulation 2021.

The council must not approve an application for an approval allowing water supply, sewerage or stormwater drainage work to be carried out unless it is satisfied that the activity as proposed to be carried out will comply with any applicable standards set out or referred to in Part 2 of Schedule 1 and with any other applicable standards or requirements set out or referred to in this Regulation.

A council may require an application for an approval relating to the installation of a water meter to be accompanied by a completed water meter identification form provided by the council for the purpose.

This section applies to the following activities—

carrying out water supply work,

drawing water from the council water supply or a standpipe,

installing, altering, disconnecting or removing a water meter connected to a service pipe,

carrying out sewerage work,

carrying out stormwater drainage work.

In determining an application for the purposes of section 68 of the Act for an approval to do any of the activities to which this section applies, the council must have regard to the following considerations—

the protection and promotion of public health,

the protection of the environment,

the safety of its employees,

the safeguarding of its assets,

any other matter that it considers to be relevant in the circumstances.

It is a condition of an approval allowing stormwater drainage work that—

the activity approved, and

any building or work associated or carried out in connection with the activity,

complies with any applicable standards set out or referred to in Part 2 of Schedule 1 and with any other applicable standards or requirements set out or referred to in this Regulation or any other regulation under the Act or the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

It is a condition of an approval allowing water supply or sewerage work that the activity approved, and any building or work associated or carried out in connection with the activity, complies with—

any applicable requirements of the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011 or the regulations made under that Act, and

any applicable standards or requirements set out or referred to in this Regulation or any other regulation under the Act or the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

The council may, in giving an approval to carry out water supply work, impose either or both of the following conditions—

a condition that requires the work to be carried out within such time as the council considers reasonable,

a condition that requires a qualified supervisor to attend at the place at which the work is carried out at such times as the council directs.

It is a condition of an approval for an activity that involves the connection of water service pipes or property service pipes to a water main or the connection of drains to a sewer main that the connection must—

comply with any operating requirements notified by the council, and

be carried out—

by a person authorised by the council, or

by or under the control of a council officer.

The council may, as a condition of approving the connection to a water or sewer main, require that the connection must not be started unless at least 2 days’ notice of intention to start the work has been given to the council.