What should the rules be for alcohol in public?
We have some proposed amendments to the Alcohol Control Bylaw, and we want to know what you think:
🍷 Have your say on the Alcohol Control Bylaw
The bylaw allows us to ban alcohol completely from specific locations, during certain times of the day, or during certain times of the year. The bans need to reflect the times and places where alcohol causes problems, and can be enforced by police. Only public places are affected by these rules, not homes or licensed premises.
In the new proposal, the city centre alcohol ban would be expanded to include the carparks at Okara Shopping Centre, Cobham Oval and under Te Matau a Pohe bridge. An alcohol ban would also be introduced at Tarewa Park.
We also propose to lift the existing blanket coastal ban that applies to public places within 300m of the mean low tide mark, and narrow the alcohol bans at Oakura, Whananaki North, Whananaki South, Matapōuri/Whale Bay and Pataua North and South - changing the ban from 24 hours a day to just at night time (between 7:00pm and 7:00am).
We appreciate your input to choose appropriate new rules!
New central city bus hub coming 2025
These artist’s-impression images show the new bus hub and link to Vine street, with construction starting in January 2025.
While work takes place, buses will use Vine Street instead (just a few steps away). Once the site is cleared, work will begin on the new public toilets, staff facilities, ticketing office and covered seating area. A new pedestrian link will also be built between Rose and Vine streets, providing an easier connection into the city centre.
Full story:
🚌 www.wdc.govt.nz...
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️