New South Wales Consolidated Acts

APIARIES ACT 1985 - SECT 18

18 Power of Director-General to restrict beekeeping on certain premises

(1) If at any time the Director-General is satisfied on reasonable grounds that, in relation to particular premises on which an apiary is being maintained:

(a) a provision of this Act is being persistently contravened or not complied with,

(b) the keeping of bees or a number of beehives on those premises is a public nuisance or a danger to public health or public safety, or

(c) for any other specified reason those premises are unsuitable for beekeeping,

the Director-General may, by order:

(d) prohibit:

(i) the keeping of bees on those premises, or

(ii) the keeping of more than a specified number of beehives on those premises,

after such date as may be specified in the order (being a date not earlier than 14 days after the date of service of the order), and

(e) direct that, not later than that date, the person who is maintaining the apiary or, if no person is maintaining the apiary, the person who established it:

(i) remove the apiary, or

(ii) remove the number of beehives kept on those premises in excess of the maximum number of beehives specified under paragraph (d),

from those premises.

(2) If at any time the Director-General is satisfied on reasonable grounds that an apiary is about to be or may be established on particular premises and that:

(a) the keeping of bees on those premises would be a public nuisance or a danger to public health or public safety, or

(b) for any other specified reason those premises would be unsuitable for beekeeping,

the Director-General may, by order, prohibit the keeping of bees and the establishment of an apiary on those premises.

(3) An order under subsection (1) or (2) is not effective unless it has been served on the occupier of the premises concerned and, where the occupier of those premises is not the person who maintains or established or, as the case may be, is about to or may establish an apiary on those premises, a copy of the order has been served on that person.

(4) An order under subsection (1) does not take effect until the date on which the prohibition specified in the order is to take effect.

(5) An order under subsection (1) or (2) shall, unless set aside following an application under section 35 (2), remain in force until it is revoked by the Director-General by a further order.

(6) A person shall not continue to maintain or, as the case may be, shall not establish an apiary in contravention of an order in force under subsection (1) or (2) and, where an order under subsection (1) contains a direction referred to in paragraph (e) of that subsection, shall not fail to comply with that direction before the date specified in the order for compliance.

Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.

(6A) The occupier of any premises is taken not to contravene an order under subsection (1) (d) if the occupier satisfies the Director-General that the occupier:

(a) does not own any beehives on the premises, and

(b) has not given permission for the beehives (or for beehives in excess of the number specified in the order) to be kept on the premises.

(6B) In such a case, the occupier must, at the request of the Director-General or an inspector, provide to the Director-General or the inspector (as the case may be) such information (if any) as the occupier possesses as to the identity and residential address of the owner of the beehives concerned.

Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.

(7) If the Director-General is satisfied that:

(a) a person has failed to comply with a direction contained in an order under subsection (1) to remove an apiary from particular premises, or

(b) a person has removed the apiary concerned from particular premises in purported compliance with such a direction to other premises in respect of which an order under subsection (1) or (2) is in force,

the Director-General may direct an inspector to remove the apiary from those premises to premises selected by the inspector on which it is lawful to establish an apiary or, if such premises are not available, to destroy or otherwise dispose of the apiary in such manner as the inspector considers appropriate, and on any such direction being given to the inspector, it is the duty of the inspector to comply with the direction.

(8) A direction under subsection (7) may be varied or revoked by the Director-General at any time before it is implemented.

(9) If an order is in force under subsection (1) or (2) prohibiting the keeping of bees, or the keeping of more than a specified number of beehives, on any premises, the occupier of those premises must not grant permission to any person to keep bees or to keep more than the specified number of beehives (as the case may be) on those premises.

Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.