Council ‘not the Christmas grinch’

Published date01 December 2022
Publication titleCentral Otago News
Taste Central co-owner Adrienne Lamb, who owns the business with her husband Andrew, has hosted three community car boot sales over five months on her Letts Gully Rd property, the last of which was held in conjunction with the Letts Gully Rd Garage Sale Trail on November 5

Ms Lamb said the sales were raised in a meeting with council staff for an unrelated matter, and she was told they were not permitted without resource consent.

On asking whether she was permitted to hold a garage sale on her property, she was told it was not permitted under the Rural Residential Retail Activity rules.

She cancelled a car boot sale planned for this Saturday and posted the cancellation and reason on social media.

Planning and regulatory services manager Lee Webster clarified the rules for car boot sales and garage sales, saying there were no relevant bylaws but some district plan rules regarding retails sales affected the issue.

For the majority of such sales, he said, ‘‘which are a really positive way of moving goods on to new owners, especially at this time of year and as a one-off sale, these can and should continue as these are considered temporary activities’’.

Where an issue arose was when the sales were on a more regular basis, he said.

‘‘So unfortunately there are wider effects that we need to consider as they can bring along some increased effects that are not necessarily seen with a one-off, that need to be considered through a consent.’’

Ms Lamb said she heard fromMr Webster yesterday morning and appreciated his clarification, but felt information should have beenrelayed during two longmeetings with...

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