Punishable from 14 years old
First of all, no more impunity for minors under 16 years old. The SAC, – Communal Administrative Sanctions – will now allow the City of Wavre to directly sanction uncivil behavior, from the age of 14. The only difference is that the price is not the same as that applicable to adults.
Examples of behavior punishable by a SAC: throwing a cigarette butt on the ground, insulting someone, urinating on the public highway, causing a disturbance at night, creating graffiti on a home or public property… But also so-called “mixed” offenses such as intentional assault and battery, destruction of cars or even hiding one’s face on public roads.
For this type of offense, the price will be a maximum of €175 for minors aged 14 to 18. And a maximum of €500 for adults. For minors, the sanctioning official must first propose alternative measures such as local mediation or citizen service.
The disastrous succession of Charles Michel in Wavre
Defense of nature and animals
To the offenses already listed in Book I, the City of Wavre has added offenses relating to damage to the environment and/or animal welfare. Recorded in Book II, these new provisions make it possible, for example, to penalize the throwing of cigarette butts on public roads, the abandonment of waste or the incineration of it. They also cover the unauthorized use of pesticides and the protection of waterways (wastewater disposal) and nature more broadly. The use of robotic lawnmowers at night is also now regulated, in order to protect hedgehogs and other amphibians. The amount of the administrative fine incurred is in the range of €150 to €2,000 depending on the seriousness of the offense.
These new provisions were necessary in order to align local regulations with the new Walloon and federal standards. This is also the case in the fight for animal welfare. When it is violated, Wavrian regulations stipulate that the permit to keep an animal may be withdrawn from its owner.
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The City and the police want to be more attentive to minor incivilities, which are becoming more and more numerous in certain neighborhoods. “There was an urgent need to be able to take measures against incivility and for public cleanliness, estimates Anne Masson, the mayor. I will simply take the example of the independent Horeca containers which are abandoned on public roads, like on the corner of rue Charles Sambon. This is not acceptable, but we did not have the legal means to act. It is now done. Another example, urban rodeos in the center. It’s a fairly recent phenomenon, which actually concerns a few groups of people who have fun driving at an unauthorized speed and screeching their tires at nightfall, generally between Place de la Gare and Place Bosch. . It’s terrible. This type of thing was specifically targeted with, as a result, the seizure of the vehicle.”
Note again that this new RGP applies not only to Wavriens but also to any person who commits an offense on municipal territory.
