Willoughby City Council Rangers from the Safe City Unit will be paying close attention to building sites over the month of October to ensure they ‘Get the Site Right’.
The NSW Government overhaul to the construction industry with new building reforms in the coming year, calls on developers and builders to install and maintain best-practice erosion and sediment controls on their sites.
The proposed reforms are expected to improve legislation, ensure higher standards of design, construction, and maintenance, and increase protection and support for consumers and workers.
The Get the Site Right campaign raises awareness of the impacts of water and sediment pollution from building sites on the aquatic environment and aims to increase compliance amongst both developers and builders.
The call for greater compliance on building and construction sites comes in the lead up to the Get the Site Right inspection ‘Blitz Week’ being held from 16-20 October, involving councils across Sydney and parts of NSW.
The inspection blitz aims to build on the six per cent improvement in compliance achieved in the month-long campaign held in May where Rangers from Willoughby City Council conducted 30 inspections of building and construction sites. Rangers issued 6 verbal warnings, served 8 Formal Warnings and 8 Penalty Notices (Fines) for offences against the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 and Protection of the Environment Operations Act, 1997 to a total face value of $30,594
Willoughby Mayor Tanya Taylor welcomes the proposed changes to the building and construction industry that will contribute to improving the health of our local waterways and in particular Middle Harbour.
“We have known for a long time that developers and builders play an important role in preventing sediment laden runoff from leaving their sites and polluting our waterways.
“Encouraging compliance by deploying a combination of education and enforcement will help to keep sustainable and environmentally friendly practices front of mind for both developers and builders.
“Waterway health is a key focus for our Willoughby and our community. The Get the Site Right campaign is an important initiative for improving stormwater quality and reducing pollutants to improve the water quality and enjoyment of our waterways,” Mayor Taylor said.
Get the Site Right is a joint taskforce between the Cooks River Alliance, Georges Riverkeeper, Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Parramatta River Catchment Group, Sydney Coastal Councils Group, WaterNSW, and local 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.
