Residents are being asked to submit on proposed controls on the sale of legal highs and party pills across the Western Bay of Plenty.

The district council has released its draft Psychoactive Substances Policy, aimed to control the location and operating conditions of legal high retailers, for public submissions.

Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson says the Psychoactive Substances Policy is one of the most influential steps council can take to address the concerns of the thousands of residents in Te Puke and Katikati, who oppose the sale of psychoactive products in their towns.

On Thursday Council's Policy and Planning Committee released the draft policy for public comment.

The main points in the draft policy on which Council seeks feedback are:

• Restricting the location of premises selling psychoactive products to the central business areas of Te Puke and Katikati (excluding all other settlements in the Western Bay District)
• Restricting the proximity of retailers selling the products to no fewer than 750 metres from each other
• Restricting the proximity of retail premise selling psychoactive products to no fewer than 100 metres from educational facilities, libraries and medical centres
• Limiting operating hours to six days a week, Monday to Saturday, from 9am to 5pm daily.

The public can have a say on the draft policy from Wednesday, 19 February until Wednesday 19 March.

Hearings are on Monday, April 7 and council will meet to deliberate on the submissions and adopt the policy on Monday, April 14.

Council is also writing to the Minister of Health to urge more community input into decisions about the sale of psychoactive products.

Council has been preparing the draft policy as a priority and, now that it is in the public domain, Ross urges people to make submissions and, if they wish, to present their views to the hearings in April.

The draft is the result of extensive community feedback with input from all sides of the situation and it reflects the interests of the majority, says Ross.

Psychoactive substances are ingredients in party pills, energy pills and herbal high products. Last year Government introduced the Psychoactive Substances Act and established a new licensing system for psychoactive products and for anyone wanting to manufacture or sell such products.

The Act prohibits the sale of these substances from dairies, conveniences stores, grocery stores, supermarkets, service stations and alcohol retail outlets.

Since the Act came into force there has been a 95 per cent drop in the number of retailers selling the products.

While the Act does not give council the power to ban the sale of these products, it does give council the power to create its own policy to control the location of retail premises selling these products, the number of outlets in any given precinct and the location of retail outlets in relation to sensitive sites, says Ross.

The draft policy will be available on council's website at www.westernbay.govt.nz and hard copies made available at Council libraries and service centres.

Submissions close on Wednesday, March 19.