NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will begin a month-long campaign at Sydney construction sites in an attempt to improve the quality of the city’s waterways.
Get the Site Right will begin in May and aims to improve sediment control and reduce erosion on building and construction sites in Sydney and the Central Coast. It also aims to raise awareness about the effects of sediment laden runoff on local waterways.
The campaign is made up of the Parramatta River Catchment Group (PRCG), NSW EPA, Cooks River Alliance, Georges River Riverkeeper, Sydney Coastal Councils Group, Department of Planning & Environment, and over 20 councils.
It is the fourth time the campaign has been held, with results from November 2017 showing a steady improvement in compliance rates from the previous campaign in May.
NSW EPA Regional Director Metropolitan Giselle Howard said sediment runoff was an often-overlooked issue that could have significant impacts on the environment.
“Everyone in Sydney wants to see our waterways return to a condition where aquatic life can thrive and residents can swim,” Ms Howard said.
“Sediment laden runoff might seem like a small problem limited to gutters and stormwater drains, but when that runoff hits our waterways it not only affects the water quality and amenity, but it smothers aquatic vegetation, clogs fish gills, and can even block waterways entirely during storms and floods.
“While Get the Site Right is a targeted compliance blitz that will include the issuing of fines, what we’re focused on is prevention as the cure: we want developers and builders to stop the sediment leaving their site boundaries in the first place by putting the appropriate erosion and sediment controls in place.”
PRCG Chair Mark Drury said with Sydney’s growing population there is a rapidly increasing demand for clean, local rivers and creeks.
“In a community survey conducted by the PRCG in 2016, 54 per cent of respondents said they would prefer to swim in the Parramatta River if it was safe to do so,” Cr Drury said.
“With a growing population there is always going to be associated growth in construction, and Get the Site Right is an important part of our ongoing strategy to manage the environmental impacts of that construction and achieve our mission to make the Parramatta River swimmable again by 2025.”
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