259—Councils to develop policies
(1) A council must
take reasonable steps to prepare and adopt policies concerning the operation
of this Part.
(2) A council
must—
(a)
prepare a draft of a policy; and
(b) by
notice in a newspaper circulating in the area of the council, give notice of
the place or places at which copies of the draft are available for inspection
(without charge) and purchase (on payment of a fee fixed by the council) and
invite interested persons to make written representations on the draft within
a period specified by the council (being a period of at least 4 weeks).
(3) A council must
consider any submission made to the council on a proposed policy in response
to an invitation under subsection (2).
(4) A council may
amend a policy at any time.
(5) However, a council
must, before adopting an amendment to a policy, take the steps specified by
subsections (2) and (3) (as if the amendment were a new policy), unless
the council determines that the amendment is of only minor significance.
(8) A council must, in
considering whether to make an order under this Part, deal with the particular
case on its merits but must also take into account any relevant policy under
this Division.