The rapid rate of development across NSW has been great for growth and employment. But with the construction boom continuing in Sydney and across NSW, we are seeing more and more illegal dumping of waste on vacant lots.
In fact, the EPA notes that illegal dumping is increasing at such a rate that many councils across NSW are reporting the issue as a major problem with the clean-up costs totalling in excess of $500,000 each and every year.
While the EPA has strict laws and fines relating to illegal dumping, it’s not enough to stop some people from continuing to offload their waste illegally onto other people’s land. And it’s more of an issue than we all realise.
An EPA report into the issue found that one in three individuals and one in four businesses have admitted to illegally dumping waste.
As part of our business, we have seen first-hand the impact illegal dumping has caused on innocent and unsuspecting landowners.
What is Illegal Dumping?
The Office of Environment and Heritage refers to illegal dumping as “…the unlawful deposit of waste larger than litter onto land. It includes waste that has been dumped on private land and can be a variety of waste types.”
This means if you have a sizable amount of waste deposited on your land, other than the odd piece of litter or rubbish, then you have an illegal dumping issue on your hands.
What Type of Waste Can Be Found Dumped Illegally?
According to the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Illegal dumping can include:
- placing unwanted household items on the footpath when there is no council collection
- dumping rubbish or green waste in the bush or on the side of a road
- businesses or contractors who are paid to correctly dispose of commercial waste but instead dump it on land without proper approvals
- dumping asbestos waste
The waste that is illegally dumped often includes:
- Household goods including furniture
- Old building material
- Tyres
- Bricks
- Concrete
- Domestic rubbish including clothes
- Green waste
- Whitegoods
Imagine buying land and while you wait for construction to commence you visit your site only to find furniture, old building material or mixed waste has been unceremoniously dumped there.
Or you wake to find a truckload of waste material has been dumped in your street. It’s an unfortunate reality for many landowners and residents across NSW.
How Can I Prevent Illegal Dumping on My Property?
There is very little you can do to stop unscrupulous people from carrying out illegal dumping, there are steps you can take to prevent someone else’s rubbish from becoming your issue to clean up.
Installing security measures to your property is the best way to prevent illegal dumping happening on your land. And the easiest, quickest and most affordable security measure you can put in place is temporary fencing.
Installing good quality, compliant temporary fencing to the perimeter of your property will make it harder for anyone to dump large amounts of waste on your property.
This means restricting all access to your block with fencing panels and security gates before construction of your home begins and having the temporary fence in place throughout the duration of your build.
We provide competitive pricing on all our temporary fence hires and offer flexible hire periods to make sure your property is protected for as long as required.
Considering that the most common goods that are illegally dumped are often large objects and potentially harmful material such as Asbestos that is expensive to remove, installing temporary fence to the perimeter of your property may just be a more cost-effective solution.
For more information on illegal dumping, visit www.epa.nsw.gov.au or to report illegal dumping, head to https://www.illegaldumping.com.au/
Hire Rite Temporary Fence – Newcastle: (02) 4956 9060 | Central Coast: (02) 4311 9133 | Sydney: (02) 8332 1640 | Wollongong: (02) 4225 0176
