Council will implement a range of prevention measures to crackdown on illegal dumping, after receiving a grant from the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
Council has been awarded $76,000 under the EPA's Illegal Dumping Prevention Program to help reduce and combat illegal dumping across the Local Government Area (LGA). The project will be run in collaboration with Crown Land, National Parks and Wildlife and Forestry Corporation of NSW.
Reported illegal dumping incidents have doubled in the Shoalhaven in the past two years according to data captured in RID online, the EPA's illegal dumping reporting system.
"These statistics are alarming and demonstrate a lack of understanding from some members of the community about the impact of illegal dumping and the cost-effective services we have available to assist residents with the lawful disposal of waste," said Shoalhaven Mayor Particia White.
"Our greatest concern is the impact dumping has on our natural environment and the 156 threatened species that call this region home," Cr White said.
"This funding support from the EPA will enable our illegal dumping investigators to continue their important work educating residents, protecting our environment and holding polluters to account," she said.
Sixty per-cent of all illegal dumping incidents in the Shoalhaven over the past two years occurred on Council land with household rubbish accounting for 55 per cent of all unlawfully discarded waste.
During the reporting period, Council recovered approximately 450 tonnes of waste from public land at an estimated cost of $208,689.
Funding under the Illegal Dumping Prevention Program aims to reduce illegal dumping through implementing prevention measures. Council will use the funding to;
- install gates, bollards, signage and CCTV cameras in known dumping hot spots
- create an education and awareness campaign that will be run in schools
- increase clean-up efforts across the city and dispose of dumped waste.
"We're proud to be working with Shoalhaven City Council to prevent kerbside and bushland dumping through targeted community education and engagement," said NSW EPA Executive Director Programs and Innovation, Alexandra Geddes.
"Illegal dumping impacts the community and poses devasting risks to our environment," Ms Geddes said.
"This partnership supports land managers to target hotspots with actions that meet community needs and better protect our parks, bushlands, and streetscapes," she said.
