Pay it online, report an issue or request a service, submit on it, or ask us.
The Fencing of Swimming Pools Act was introduced to protect young children from the danger of drowning.
The Council has a range of community buildings available for hire for recreational activities, events, meetings and private functions.
The Council has 112 units in Kaiapoi, Oxford, Rangiora and Woodend for people over 60 with limited means.
You can share your views about the Council's plans and projects by making a submission.
The Waimakariri District Council is one of the largest employers in the Waimakariri District and has become an employer of choice.
This section gives tips on improving food safety, as well as information on the registration of food premises.
Under the Food Act 2014, some food businesses will operate under stricter food safety requirements than others. The Act will also apply in different ways to education providers and community organisations depending on what they do. Case studies on the Ministry for Primary Industries website provide examples of how the Food Act might apply to you.
The Food Act 2014 comes fully into force 1 March 2016. The MPI Food Safety website has information on the new Act, application forms and Food Control Plan templates.
Where do I fit? is a handy tool from the Ministry for Primary Industries to find out what rules you need to follow under the Food Act 2014.
When you have found the site at which you want to open a food premises, first check with the Waimakariri District Council planners to check that what you want to do is a permitted activity at that particular location.
You also need to check with our Building Unit that any building or plumbing works have the correct building consents.
New laws bring in new food safety measures that are risk-based and focus on the food production processes.
All food premises must comply with the Food Act 2014 to ensure safe food production.
An Environmental Health Officer can provide advice and do preliminary inspections at any stage of the development. Guidance can be found in the 2017 Food Control Plan Basics Pack, section 2.
When you are ready to register, you need to provide a copy of your site plan, the scope of operations (pdf, 649.7 KB), and the appropriate registration form (multiple sites (pdf, 310.1 KB) or single site (pdf, 205.5 KB)) and submit to Council's Environmental Health Officers for approval. Fees apply. You don't need to provide a copy of your template Food Control Plan when registering. However, the Food Act 2014 requires a business to keep a copy of their plan for as long as their registration is effective.
A new resource is available from Ministry for Primary Industries to help you get started with your template Food Control Plan - Getting started with your template food control plan (pdf, 2.7 MB).
When a National Programme business applies to register with a Council they need to provide a site plan (physical design and layout), the scope of operations (pdf, 649.7 KB), and the appropriate registration form (multiple sites (pdf, 310.1 KB) or single site (pdf, 205.5 KB)) and engage a verifier or verification agency and identify them in their application, and submit to Council's Environmental Health Officers for approval. To help you find a verifier, check the Food Safety website.
For a corner dairy that is part of the 'Retailers that handle food (but do not prepare or manufacture food)' sector you would look for an auditor who has the 'Retail Sale of Food' class of operation. An early childhood education service should select a verifier with the ‘eating houses (including takeaways)’ class of operation.
Pakihi ā-kāinga
If you want to set up a home business you need to consider:
Start by speaking to one of our planners about zoning and checking with our licensing team if you need a licence to operate. These meetings are free and can be held over the phone, or in person.
Contact us on 0800 965 468 (0800WMKGOV) to arrange a meeting or to speak to a planner or someone from our licensing team.
Te whakahaere pakihi mahi kai ā-kāinga
If you want to prepare food for customers at home, there are several factors to think about.
Your site and equipment
Preparation and storage of food
Keeping food safe
Inspections of home-based businesses
Mobile shops selling food must comply with the requirements set out in the Food Act 2014 and need to have current registration with Waimakariri District Council or any other council.
If you are considering running a sausage sizzle, read the booklet Hot tips for a safe and successful sausage sizzle (pdf, 404.3 KB).
A simple system for providing a hand-wash facility can be made using a chair, a 20 litre container for the water supply and a bucket under to catch the waste. The photo on the right shows a minimal satisfactory hand-washing set-up with a container of cold water on a chair with a tap draining into a bucket (so you can wash your hands in running water, which is better than just in a bowl). You should also bring hot water (minimum 2 litre thermos) if you need to wash any greasy items or if you need warm water to wash your hands. Also bring enough utensils to last the duration of the event.
To clean food contact surfaces you can use proprietary food surface cleaners in a plastic bottle with spray nozzle and a paper towel.
There are simple practices that any food operator can adopt to improve food safety:
Our Environmental Health Officers can provide food operators with cleaning schedule charts (pdf, 145.3 KB). These detail the advantages of having a cleaning schedule, what a schedule should include, cleaning frequencies and examples of cleaning schedule charts.
Honey for sale must be extracted and packed in a premises that is either:
All honey sold must be labelled in accordance with the Australian and New Zealand Food Standard Code.
All food waste that contains meat or has come into contact with meat must be treated before it is fed to pigs. The Ministry for Primary Industries website has details on these restrictions and treatment of food waste. If you supply food waste for feeding to pigs, we recommend that you obtain an undertaking from the person you supply the food waste, stating that it will be treated according to the rules before it is fed to pigs. You can use the MPI undertaking for food waste collection template (pdf, 195.8 KB) for this undertaking.
