Liverpool City Council is set to join in the ‘Get the Site Right’ initiative on Thursday 19 May as part of a one-day blitz aimed at targeting erosion and sediment control on construction and building sites across New South Wales.
The ‘Get the Site Right’ campaign centres around ensuring that local builders remained compliant from an environmental perspective and aims to raise awareness about the effects of sediment laden run-off on our waterways.
The one-day blitz will see all participating councils, NSW EPA and DPE go out in force to inspect developments, focusing on ‘repeat offenders’ and the sites that were found to be non-compliant on the first visit.
During the October 2021 campaign across New South Wales, of the 495 sites visited, 63% were compliant, 37% were non-compliant, and the total fines issued were $119,600.
Offences included minor offences such as ruptured sediment bags and inadequate sweeping of roads and driveways, as well as instances where there were no controls in place at all.
Locally, a total of 15 construction sites were inspected by Council during the previous blitz day in November 2021, with 9 sites determined to be non-compliant with erosion and sediment controls.
These numbers show that targeted inspections and education are necessary to achieve long-term and sustainable reduction in runoff and improvements to the health of local waterways.
Launched by the Parramatta River Catchment Group (PRCG) in 2016, Get the Site Right is supported by the Cooks River Alliance, Georges Riverkeeper, Sydney Coastal Councils Group, NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Department of Planning & Environment, and more than 19 councils.
Members of the public are encouraged to report pollution incidents, including poor sediment control, to their local council or the EPA’s 24/7 Environment Line on 131 555.
