Georges River Council issues eight fines worth $18K for non-compliant building sites
A building compliance blitz has revealed eight sites in the Georges River area were not adhering to development and environmental controls. Find out how the sites weren’t compliant.
NSW
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Eight fines totalling $18,000 were issued when Georges River Council officers conducted compliance inspections on building sites throughout the area.
As part of the “get the site right” initiative, the council’s development compliance unit had five officers completing inspections on May 18 focused on ensuring sites adhered to environment protection measures.
Fifty-one site inspections were conducted with eight requiring follow up enforcement action.
Officers found 41 building sites were compliant and 10 failed requirements.
Eight penalty notices were issued for noncompliance with development consent conditions, which included four fines to individuals worth $1500 each, and four to corporations costing $3000 each.
Inspectors found the offences related to having no sediment and erosion controls in place; vehicles tracking mud or dirt onto the roadway due to inadequate stabilised access at the site; inadequate or non-existent silt fencing; exposed stockpiles of building materials which were also on council land, and lack of tree protection measures.
Councillor Peter Mahoney asked the council for an update councillors with a report on the initiative after he had received complaints from residents about building sites.
“I have always had a keen interest in the environment, and living close to the Georges River I do whatever I can to protect it, and its tributaries and wetlands,” he said.
“I have seen many non-compliant building sites around the area, with concrete, soil and rubbish washed off building sites into stormwater drains, which ends up in the river.”
Mr Mahoney said it was “disappointing to learn about any breaches which cause pollution”.
“But eight sites which required enforcement action out of a total of 51 shows that those in the industry are hopefully becoming better educated about environmental regulations,” he said. “Council officers do an extremely effective job in monitoring building sites.
“However I believe the prime responsibility for this lies with the industry, which should be following the regulations in the first place. That is, prevention is much better than cure.”
The report about the initiative, which will be noted in the Georges River council meeting, noted non-compliant sites had follow up inspections to ensure measures were implemented and maintained.
“Due to current resource provisions Get the Site Right is the only proactive initiative currently undertaken by the compliance unit,” the report states. “The unit operates on a reactive basis and only inspect when a request is lodged by the public.”
The council report notes the initiative was about educating those responsible for the development on best practice methods, their obligations and consequences for noncompliance.
The primary objective of the conditions of consent and site inspections were to prevent pollution events.
The report notes poorly managed construction sites could led to pollution in creeks, rivers and harbours by filling them with dirt, soil, sand and mud resulting in poorer water quality which affects swimming or leisure activities in and around our waterways.
Mr Mahoney said he was a member of the Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservation Society and had worked on many of the group’s clean-up projects and had assisted in the Streamwatch Program and Ocean Crusaders, and was a councillor representative on the Georges River Combined Councils Committee.
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Originally published as Georges River Council issues eight fines worth $18K for non-compliant building sites
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