As part of our proactive approach to support local building companies, project supervisors, private certifiers and others to improve their onsite sediment controls, we’re offering two free educative workshops in August.
The workshops will be held on Wednesday 10 August and are divided into two sessions. The first will provide advice for site supervisors for residential home builders, while the second hour-long workshop will be targeted at project managers/earthworks contractors of sub-division sites.
“The ongoing wet weather has provided a real challenge for those needing to manage soil and sediment from building sites across our city,” Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said.
“We’ve all seen images of water flowing across streets and into marine and creek environments during the recent storms. This displaced sediment and material, whether dirt, soil, sand or mud, can seriously impact the local environment and its amenity.
“We know the majority of those working in the construction industry take their responsibilities and obligations for environmental protection seriously. The purpose of these workshops is to ensure those who are employed in this fast-paced environment have the opportunity to make sure they’re up-to-speed with the most current guidelines and expectations.”
Council has invited local building companies, project supervisors, private certifiers and relevant building industry peak bodies to highlight the need for greater vigilance and increasing their monitoring of onsite sediment control, particularly during rain events like we’ve experienced recently.
The workshop is part of Council’s ongoing education program to reinforce the obligations on builders, developers and certifiers which, it’s hoped, will reduce the instances of run-off and the need for enforcement action from Council.
“These workshops are another way we can support locals in the construction industry to have the right measures in place to carry out their work,” Cr Bradbery said.
“This is in addition to the proactive spot inspections we undertake and our response to community reports about building site pollution whether that be concerns about run-off or rubbish. It has certainly been a big concern this year with more than 90 requests related to water pollution incidents from building sites being responded to this year alone.
“With the impact of climate change upon us, we’re likely to see more frequent heavy and intense rainfall events which can result in erosion and run-off. It’s important we work together to get this right.”
If you’re in the local construction industry and haven’t received an invitation to the workshop and would like to attend, please call Council’s Customer Service team on 4227 7111 before 30 June 2022 to register your attendance.
