A local council has promised to get tough on developers to reduce the impact of dust on nearby residents.
In response to a spate of complaints in August and September, Wollondilly Council says that as well as enforcing compliance it will consider additional regulations to address and minimise dust impacts to neighbouring properties as part of its Development Control Plan review project.
Wollondilly experienced extreme winds over those two months, following some dry conditions.
As a result, council received complaints from community members regarding dust impacts from development sites across the Shire, including the subdivision works occurring in Macquariedale Road, Appin.
Council officers responded to these complaints by taking regulatory action such as requiring developers and their site operators to comply with the relevant conditions of development consent relating to dust control.
This resulted in actions including sites being shut down on extremely windy days, use of water carts (pictured), improvements to site access, slowing down plant movements, covering of stockpiles, and the use of polymers to stabilise topsoil.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, council noted the action already taken in response to concerns raised by Appin residents and requested through the CEO that officers continue to maintain an elevated level of regulatory oversight of the Macquariedale Road development.
Council said it continuing to monitor and respond to any dust complaints raised by the community, and further regulatory action may be undertaken if needed, including an Order, Penalty Infringement Notice and requirement to install air monitoring equipment to monitor dust impacts.
Mayor Matt Gould urged council to get on the front foot on the issue.
“With increased residential development across the Shire, I believe it is important that we have stringent measures in place to protect the community from any dust impacts caused from development activities, including bulk earthworks, subdivision works and the importation of fill,’’ he said.
“By strengthening the conditions of development consent, we will have the ability to hold developers and their site operators to account and provide assurance to our community.
“It is important to get these measures in place, so Wollondilly lifts the benchmark and expectations for development across the Shire, as we work with developers to seek the best possible outcomes for our current and future communities.”
Council has requested the strengthening of the standard conditions of consent for development applications that have the potential to generate dust, to require a report prepared by an occupational hygienist to inform a construction and environmental management plan identifying measures to minimise dust impacts.
Measures may include installation of air quality monitoring equipment, environmental thresholds (wind speed, temperature, humidity and soil moisture) when on-site works must stop, and treatment of site entrances and internal construction roads.
Residents can continue to report any compliance issues through the Customer Portal https://www.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/customerservice/customer-portal/report-an-issue/
