{"id":"town-planning-and-development-bylaws-bylaws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas","name":"Town Planning and Development By-laws - By-laws in respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas","slug":"town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":182248,"registerId":"wa-town-planning-and-development-bylaws-bylaws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Town Planning and Development By-laws - By-laws in respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nPlanning and Development Act 2005 2\n\nTown Planning and Development By-Laws — By-laws in Respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas\n\nWestern Australia\n\nTown Planning and Development By-Laws — By-laws in Respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas\n\nContents\n\n1. Quarrying and excavations in Metropolitan Area 1\n\n2. Offence 1\n\n3. Application 2\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 3\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nPlanning and Development Act 2005 2\n\nTown Planning and Development By‑Laws — By‑laws in Respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas\n\n##### 1. Quarrying and excavations in Metropolitan Area\n\nSubject as hereinafter provided no person shall carry on or cause or permit or suffer to be carried on any quarrying or excavating for stone, sand, or other material upon land situate within the Metropolitan Area as defined by “The *Traffic Act 1919*,” or the regulations thereunder, or within any municipality or townsite: Provided that this By‑law shall not apply to —\n\n(a) quarrying or excavating as aforesaid upon land comprised in a surveyed lot or parcel of land having an area exceeding one‑half acre;\n\n(b) excavations for foundations, footings, basements, water supplies or sanitary services made necessary by or in respect of any building or structure authorised by a local authority in accordance with its By-laws;\n\n(c) excavations for or in connection with any public work undertaken by a local authority or any Government department.\n\n##### 2. Offence\n\nIf any person shall either by act or omission contravene By‑law 1 of these By‑laws he shall be guilty of an offence.\n\nPenalty: Twenty pounds, and in addition a daily penalty of Two pounds for every day or part of a day where the offence is in its nature a continuing offence.\n\n##### 3. Application\n\nThese By‑laws shall have effect and be in operation within the Metropolitan Area as defined in “The *Traffic Act 1919*,” or the regulations thereunder, and in every municipality and townsite within the State.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Town Planning and Development By-Laws — By‑laws in respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas.* The following table contains information about those by‑laws.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| By‑law | Gazettal | Commencement | Miscellaneous |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Town Planning and Development By-Laws — By‑laws in respect of Excavations in Subdivided Areas* | 23 July 1937 p.1198 | 23 July 1937 |  |\n\n\n2 Formerly made under s. 30 of the *Town Planning and Development Act 1928*, continued under s. 262 of the *Planning and Development Act 2005*.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The supplied text is the original by‑law text (Gazetted 23 July 1937) and is noted as continued under the Planning and Development Act 2005 (see Notes, compilation table and Note 2). No substantive amendment to the by‑laws’ scope is indicated in the provided material."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-reference to the definition of “Metropolitan Area” in the Traffic Act 1919, requiring users to consult another statute to establish geographic scope (By‑law 1, By‑law 3).","Three categorical exemptions that turn a broad prohibition into a conditional rule (By‑law 1(a)–(c)).","Old-fashioned penalty framing in pre-decimal currency and a continuing daily penalty, which raises interpretation and enforcement questions (By‑law 2).","Potential ambiguity in key terms — e.g. “quarrying”, “excavating”, and “surveyed lot” — increasing the need for factual and legal interpretation (By‑law 1).","Statewide application alongside municipal authority discretion to authorise some digs creates overlapping decision-makers and compliance routes (By‑laws 1(b),(c); By‑law 3)."],"plain_english_summary":"Mechanically, the instrument bans quarrying or excavating for stone, sand or other material inside the Metropolitan Area and within any municipality or townsite, subject to three narrow exemptions. It affects anyone proposing small-scale excavations in subdivided urban areas: exemptions cover surveyed lots over half an acre, building-related digs authorised by a local authority, and public works; breaches attract a £20 fine plus £2 per day for continuing offences (By‑laws 1–3)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as no legislative content was provided. The URL has changed due to a website upgrade and the legislation text was not returned."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — only a website error message was provided","Analysis is impossible without the actual text of the by-laws","Complexity score reflects the absence of content, not the nature of the law itself"],"plain_english_summary":"The requested by-laws page could not be retrieved, so no text was available for analysis. Based on the title alone, the instrument would have governed excavations in subdivided areas and therefore mattered to property developers, builders, surveyors and landowners in Western Australia because it would set standards and permissions for digging, safety and land management in newly divided lots."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of controlling excavations in subdivided urban areas. It has not expanded beyond this narrow scope since its 1937 inception."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (only 3 substantive by-laws)","Minimal defined terms (only references to external definitions like 'Metropolitan Area' from the Traffic Act 1919)","Simple conditional structure (prohibition + three explicit exceptions)","No cross-referencing maze - only references to the enabling Act and Traffic Act for definitions","Straightforward penalty structure","Archaic language ('situate', 'hereinafter', 'aforesaid') adds slight reading difficulty but doesn't increase legal complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"This legislation is a set of old rules from Western Australia that control digging and quarrying in urban areas. It basically says you can't dig up land for stone, sand, or other materials in the Perth metropolitan area, municipalities, or townsites unless you meet specific exceptions. The exceptions are: (1) if the land is bigger than half an acre, (2) if the digging is for building foundations or utilities that have council approval, or (3) if it's for government public works. If you break these rules, you face a fine of £20 (old pounds) plus £2 per day for ongoing offences. These by-laws originally date back to 1937 and are still technically in force under modern planning laws."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas","history":"/api/acts/town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas/history","analysis":"/api/acts/town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/town-planning-and-development-by-laws-by-laws-in-respect-of-excavations-in-subdivided-areas/documents"}}