As of 1 March, fines for littering from vehicles will be issued based on reports from the public - Mayor of Liverpool Plains Shire Council (LPSC), Councillor Andrew Hope, is advising residents that he has received advice from NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes that as of 1 March, fines for littering from vehicles will be issued based on reports from the public. He said that up to this point NSW has only issued warning letters based on public reports. “Fines for littering from a vehicle range from $250 for an individual, $500 for a corporation, to $900 for aggravated littering such as lit cigarette butts during extreme conditions, so littering from a vehicle stands to be an expensive business,” he said. “Individuals will be able to report either directly through the EPA website or through a mobile app which, once downloaded, will take a person to the reporting portal - epa.nsw.gov.au/litter/from-vehicle.htm,” he continued. “As a safeguard against malicious reports, from 1 March, a new reporter, aged 18+, will have to register their personal details, agree to Terms and Conditions, and declare understanding of the responsibilities associated with reporting which include that the information provided is true and correct, that it is an offence under the Crimes Act 1900 to knowingly provide false or misleading information to the EPA, they can only submit reports that they have witnessed and they are prepared to attend court if a penalty notice is challenged by the alleged offender, based on the report they have submitted.” he said. “The Minister has advised that the new Report Litter from Vehicles system is part of a broad program to seriously reduce litter in NSW, to meet the target set in NSW 2021, a plan to make NSW number one, and in the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2014-2021. The target equates to a 40% reduction in littered items in NSW by 2016, and continuous reduction after that,” he said. “Cleaning up litter is an expensive cost to Council. The money spent on this would be much more beneficial to ratepayers, spent on other services. The Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) social research shows there is strong support in the community for litter fines,” Councillor Hope concluded.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:41:30 +0000
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