Changes are in the air for some rules in the Hauraki District.

The council is currently reviewing a bunch of bylaws and policies and wants to know what its communities think.

Mayor Toby Adams says proposed changes include introducing two new sites for responsible freedom camping in Waihi and creating no-go camping zones in other areas, such as most of the Wharekawa Coast.

'We want to encourage responsible freedom camping in our district by providing suitable locations that are set up to cater for this.

'For instance, at the moment there's no specific area for freedom camping in Waihi, so we're hoping to create an area for this in the carpark between Mueller and Haszard Streets and at the Morgan Park carpark on Kenny Street. But first we want to know what our communities think.”

Other rules under review include ensuring buildings are safe for use, thresholds for seeking community feedback before decision making, and the District's gambling rules, which the council hopes to keep pretty much the same.

'We want to continue with a sinking lid policy, where no new gaming machines are allowed in our district and any machines that are removed can't be replaced. This way we'll slowly reduce the overall numbers of machines over time,” says Adams.

'Overall, we think it's doing the job we wanted it to do so we're not proposing any major changes.”

Council is also looking at introducing some new rules to ensure vehicle crossings are safe for other users of shared spaces (such as a mobility scooter on a footpath).

To read more and provide feedback on the proposed changes before August 17 go to the Council's website https://weneedtotalk.hauraki-dc.govt.nz