The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria and Macedon Ranges council have inspected 34 building sites around Gisborne and New Gisborne, and said they are not happy with how the building industry is meeting its responsibilities.
In an announcement on April 30, EPA said it issued seven regulatory notices– each one a legally enforceable order to fix a problem by a set deadline– with two more to come.
An infringement notice will also be issued from the EPA for a duty holder that had multiple sites with repeated non-compliances, and four official warnings are also planned.
While council officers issued 52 infringements for breaches of the Community Local Law 2023 related to building sites.
These were for sites with a lack of – or non-compliant – building site signage, incorrect management of building waste onsite, lack of toilet facilities, unsecure site fencing, skip bins on council land without a permit, and general rubbish on council land.
These unhappy announcements come after two teams staged a one-day campaign of unannounced inspections in the Willow Estate and Cathlaw Estate.
They checked that builders, developers and construction workers were meeting their safety, environmental and building compliance obligations.
EPA north-west regional manager Paul Ratajczyk said businesses and tradies must know their responsibilities.
“The regulatory notices dealt with actions such as clean-up of waste, building waste and concrete scraps that were dumped on an empty block,” he said.
“The warnings were about sediment being discharged from sites, paint-contaminated water entering the stormwater system, plaster, brick dust or cement washing into drains and creeks.
“[They are] careless breaches [and] easily fixed but they should never have happened.”
Council’s director of planning and environment Rebecca Stockfeld said council would continue to take a strong regulatory approach to building site compliance.
“We want to ensure that all building sites across the Macedon Ranges are doing the right thing, for their own benefit and for the environment around them,” she said.
“Officers reported disappointment in the non-compliant state of many of the building sites recently inspected– this is simply not good enough, particularly given the warning of inspections ahead of time.
“We encourage members of the public to support us in our monitoring by reporting any alleged breaches directly to council for further investigation.”
