Dumping reduces after reports triple

Canterbury Bankstown Council’s Eyes On It campaign, run alongside the Sydney Regional Illegal Dumping Squad and community groups, has completed its third and final phase for a 12-month period.
The campaign used highly visible tape, educational signs and stickers to label incidents of illegal dumping and encouraged the community to be more proactive in reporting incidents to the council.
As a result, the number of public reports tripled and dumping incidents dropped by nearly 40 per cent. Almost 6,700 incidents were identified and collected throughout the campaign and in 15 suburbs, the rate of improvement was more than 50 per cent.
Mayor Khal Asfour says the zero tolerance approach is cutting through and restoring the sense of community pride and safety in our streets and suburbs among residents and visitors.
“This isn’t about threatening people with fines – it’s about re-educating them, changing attitudes and creating a better community for all of us to live in,” he said.
“The community’s response is a reflection of how successful council’s efforts have been in changing people’s behaviour.
“Even putting items out for reuse or repurposing without a Booked Clean Up contributes to normalising illegal dumping. We want to make it clear the council does not tolerate people who illegally dump rubbish. That’s why we have come down on it strongly, and are ready to issue fines of up to $4,000.”
The council would like to remind households they can arrange two free Council Clean Ups annually. Bookings, details: cb.city/cleanup or 9707 9000.