Weekly wrap-up: Labour weekend rules, regulations & schedules to note

There’ll be no rubbish and food waste kerbside collections on Monday 28 October due to the Labour Weekend public holiday.

All kerbside collections of red week rubbish and food scraps will take place a day later than normal:

• Tuesday 29 October: Mercury Bay South, Whangamatā South
• Wednesday 30 October: Whangamatā North, Onemana & Ōpoutere, Whitianga
• Thursday 31 October: Coromandel Rural North, Coromandel Town and Te Kōuma, Mercury Bay North, Thames Coast & Manaia Friday 1 November: Tairua, Thames & Surrounds, Thames Rural South
• Saturday 2 November: Pāuanui

More on collection days

Refuse and Recycling Transfer Stations will be open as usual the whole weekend, including the Monday public holiday: from 8.30am – 5.30pm, their daylight saving operating hours.

More RTS info

It’s Labour weekend and that means changes to some of our local dog rules. Summer rules about where you can walk your dog are put in place from Labour weekend to 1 March, with additional restrictions and prohibitions from 20 December to 31 January. These rules help to protect dogs, people, and wildlife during peak periods and nesting times.

The most important rule to remember is that dogs must always be under control. Make sure your dog is on lead unless specified otherwise.

Things you've got to know

Dogs in urban areas: Dogs must always be kept on lead while in urban areas like town centres and roads.

Dogs on beaches: Many of our beaches will have restrictions in place this weekend. Dogs may be completely prohibited or only allowed on the beach during certain times - usually before 9am and after 6pm.

Council makes it easy to stay up to date with the rules at your favourite beach. Look for these signs when you take a walk, and ensure you follow these rules. 

Green signs denote exercise areas:You can have your dog off lead, but it must be under control at all times.

Orange signs denote on lead areas: Your dog must remain on lead for times noted on the sign.

Red signs denote prohibited areas: This means no dogs at all. Most beach area prohibitions are either during the dotterel nesting season from Labour weekend to 1 March, or over the summer period and holiday weekends. We also have areas that are prohibited all year round.

Dogs around playgrounds: Dogs should never be within a children's playground. This rule was put in place to protect children and other users, as well as the assets and equipment.

Dog poo: Please remember that it is your responsibility to clean up your dog's poo. Take a few bags with you on walks or take advantage of our free poo bag dispensers in some of our districts most popular dog walking areas.

Dog rules specific to your area

We have summaries of our dog rules by Community Board area below or you can check out the full Dog Control Bylaw for all our dog rules.

• Coromandel-Colville Community Board area 

• Mercury Bay Community Board area 

• Tairua-Pāuanui Community Board area 

• Thames Community Board area

• Whangamatā Community Board area 

For information on dog access to public conservation land check www.doc.govt.nz.

Alcohol bans are in place over Labour weekend from 4pm today, Friday 25 October to 4pm Monday 28 October.

See more

Our Council offices and district libraries are closed on Monday 28 October, however you can still contact us 24/7 on 07 868 0200 or email customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz.

Over the past two weeks, our contractor has been working to harvest aquatic plants in Cooks Beach Lakes. Unfortunately, due to a mechanical issue, the contractor was unable to complete the task before Labour weekend. The contractor is now scheduled to resume work after the public holiday, focusing on harvesting and managing the lake margins.

In the meantime, residents and visitors may notice floating plants and organic material accumulating along the lake’s edges, particularly near the eastern end by the walkway to Charles Green Drive. For health and safety reasons, we strongly advise residents and visitors to avoid entering the water due to the presence of loose, floating vegetation and organic debris.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Recovery work from 2023 cyclone events continues with progress made on the first of four projects starting this month around the Coromandel Peninsula.

Near Oamaru Bay on Colville Rd contractors have built an eight-metre-tall wood pile retaining wall covering about 60m.The works are expected to take about three months and are being completed ahead of schedule.

We’d like to thank the local community for their patience while we work to complete repairs to the roading network. Each site’s completion will provide better access to other areas damaged by the cyclones. We anticipate all sites will be finished by Christmas 2025.

We will be carrying out stabilization and sealing works on Opito Bay Road and Blackjack Road, which will require intermittent road closures starting Tuesday 22 October – Friday 1 November, between 7am - 6pm.

• Roads will be closed for 50 minutes at a time.
• There will be a 10-minute window for passage at the start of every hour, managed by a Stop/Go system.

Note: No work will take place over Labour Weekend. 

Please be aware that these works are weather dependent. Plan your travel accordingly.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

This week our council started slip repair works on Port Charles Road, approximately 10.6 km from the starting point. The project is scheduled for completion around Tuesday, 12 November, weather permitting. 

• Stop/Go traffic management with reduced speed limits
• Potential delays of 15-20 minutes
• Work hours: 7am - 7pm, Monday through Saturday
• No work on Sundays, public holidays, or long weekends

Thank you for your understanding as we work to ensure the safety of the road.

Bella Street Irishtown walkway (see location below) in Thames will be closing from Tuesday 22 October for a couple of weeks while our contractors install a handrail. It won't be open to use during this time. Thanks for your patience as we complete the work to make it safer.

We want to hear your thoughts on how the land by the boat ramp on the estuary can be tidied up and organised so that it remains open space available for the whole community to use, including families with children. 

The land is zoned as passive recreation, which means flexible open space for walking, picnicking, playing frisbee, accessing the beach, and what else? 

See more