Bondi residents push for council to ban petrol-powered leaf blowers

A campaign against leaf blowers has drawn the ire of landscapers and gardeners with one comparing it to a “Genghis Khan sneak attack”.

The winds of conflict are blowing at Bondi with a group of angry residents leading the charge to rid the nation of petrol-powered leaf blowers.

The move has drawn the ire of hardworking landscapers and gardeners across the glitzy beachside suburb, with one comparing it to a “Genghis Khan sneak attack”.

Community group the Bondi Beach Precinct are behind the push to ban gas-guzzlers in favour of electric-powered alternatives, citing the increased impact of dust and noise on locked-down beach-siders.

But John Hayes, whose business The Bondi Gardener and Handyman has serviced yards around the area for more than a decade, said any ban on traditional petrol-powered leaf blowers would see maintenance costs skyrocket.

John Hayes, of The Bondi Gardener and Handyman, says the proposal is a “plethora of stupidity”. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“Electric and battery powered blowers have got nowhere near the grunt of gasoline powered blowers,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Because they haven’t got the grunt, you spend hours getting debris out of difficult places to clean it up – so you’re labour cost would go through the roof.”

He laughed off concerns about the noise of two-stroke blowers over their electric alternatives.

“I’m 70 years old (and have) never worn or used protective gear, never used sunscreen, and I’ve worked in steel fabrication and with jack hammers … and I’ve got no issues with my hearing,” he said.

“It’s a plethora of stupidity … I’m just shaking my head at it.”

Bondi Beach Precinct have raised the matter through local Greens Councillor Dominic Wy Kanak in a notice of motion at Waverley Council’s Tuesday night meeting.

“To get it in while the pandemic is happening … reminds me of a Genghis Khan sneak attack,” Mr Hayes said.

The notice of motion tabled states “Waverley Council should now lead Australia” in banning petrol-powered leaf blowers, saying their rumbling noise was causing psychological and health problems to locked-down beach-siders.

Margaret Merten, the co-convener of the Precinct, said the lockdown was the catalyst for the move.

“With lockdown the impact of the noise and dust has really become a lot more extreme for people in the Bondi area,” she said.

“Bondi is a densely populated area (with) a lot of people living in blocks of units. Their only access to fresh air is opening windows – (with leaf blowers) you’ve got a lot of noise and a lot of dust with not a huge amount of open space for that to be dispersed without it landing in people’s homes.”

Waverley Council confirmed its staff use a combination of petrol-powered and electric leaf blowers, with 32 gas-guzzlers currently in use among its workforce.