Peter Harle is normally a mild mannered man of a certain age, but right now the independent Liverpool councillor is as mad as hell because he believes very little is being done to stop pollution of the Georges River.
“We talk about making the river the centrepiece of the new Liverpool but when it comes to taking steps to stop rubbish entering the river every time it rains it is a very low priority,’’ he told the South West Voice this morning.
“When in fact doing something about this should be of the highest priority,’’ Cr Harle said.
He was clearly frustrated at the end of Wednesday night’s council meeting when he wanted to speak on this issue but wasn’t able to by the time it was closed by the mayor, Ned Mannoun.
Cr Harle walked over to the media table and handed out papers containing part of his argument and a two part action plan he had added to the end of an item dealing with tenders for pollution traps in the Green Valley area.
He also had photographic evidence of pollution he wanted to show the council as part of argument that this was a serious issue. Some of these photos appear with this story.
“But it seems no-one was overly interested,’’ Cr Harle told the Voice.
The two items of action he wanted to talk about were:
1. Council officers to prepare a report outlining existing strategies and programs in place to manage the quality of water reaching our creeks and rivers. The report is to include strategies to improve the capture of gross pollutants such as drink containers, bottle tops and similar plastic items ending up in our waterways.
2. The report is to be presented no later than the August meeting of council.
Cr Harle says that while plastic containers are a huge part of the pollution problem for the Georges River, other types of pollutants also enter local waterways during heavy rain as runoff.
“As a councillor and resident I am concerned about the enormous amount of discarded plastic materials such as drink containers that eventually end up in the Georges River.
“Which means the traps we use near creeks and the river aren’t doing their job, so we need to urgently act to protect this important waterway, the Georges River, so much a part of Liverpool’s history,’’ Cr Harle said.
“It looks to me that these pollution traps are a total waste of money, but I don’t get the sense that this is an issue of high priority in Liverpool Council.
“At the moment we spend about $230,000 on pollution traps over 10 years, which is a pittance, especially compared with what we spend on things like the night markets.
“I accept everything has its place but I wonder which is more important in terms of priorities.’’
Cr Harle, who was first elected to council in 2008, says that among other pollution atrocities he has seen a piece of cloth stacked in front of a drain as a very basic gross pollutant trap.
“Some of these photos are a few years old, but nothing has changed since then, actually in many instance it is worse,’’ he said.
Cr Harle is one of two council representatives on the Georges River Combined Council Committee (GRCCC).
“I hope to raise the issue with them as well,’’ he said.
Up to the end of March the Riverkeeper crew had collected almost 70 tons of rubbish from the river, but Cr Harle says that’s a losing battle.
“We need to reduce the amount of rubbish reaching the river in the first place.
“And because a lot of it comes from Campbelltown, who are also on the Georges River committee, we will need to talk to them to work together if we are going to get an effective reduction in the amount of rubbish into the river.’’
Cr Harle received support for his stand from the Liverpool Action Group.
Ian Bailey, of LAG, wrote to Cr Harle after the council meeting, to say:
“It is disappointing to know that Council still does not address this issue. I know your constant push for a container deposit scheme (CDS) would be one way to go and I think both major parties, before the State election, said if elected would bring in the law. The rubbish is not all bottles and cans unfortunately. I walked the 1.8 km along the Georges River from the Nursing Home to the footbridge and a lot of the rubbish left behind by the high tide (probably about 3 metres higher than usual) is plastic and various rubbish. It may not look a lot at any one spot, but collect it all together and it would be in the tons,’’ Mr Bailey wrote.
Cr Harle says he gets many requests from residents who tell him council should be doing more to prevent pollutants entering local waterways.
“Council spends a relatively small percentage of rate money maintaining and installing gross pollution traps compared to the amount allocated to roads, parks and recreation, yet our waterways are among the most popular recreation areas we have,’’ Cr Harle said.
“Many thousands of residents regularly enjoy the Chipping Norton Lakes area and surrounding parks yet we do comparatively little to prevent street rubbish entering these lakes.
“It is time we addressed these issues.
