10 signatures reached
To: NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe
Make NSW Environment Line a 7-day, extended hour service with adequate compliance staff
This petition is to the NSW Premier, Chris Minns, and his Minister for Environment, Penny Sharpe.
It asks that the NSW Environment Line phone and email reporting service become a 7-day and public holiday service with extended operating hours.
It asks that Environment Line be adequately staff so that reports of environmental harm that are not deemed a public health emergency (these can be dealt with by the EPA or by calling 000 24/7) can be investigated remotely, triaged, and where appropriate, assigned to an adequate number of compliance staff who can attend the site and where appropriate, stop the offending work promptly. The recent restructure within NSW DCCEEW has not resolved the problem of chronic under-staffing of compliance officers, and their not being geographically positioned such that they can readily respond to high priority reports.
Currently, Environment Line operates only during normal business hours. Reports of illegal harm to biodiversity are sidelined over weekends until Monday morning, and under-staffing means that a case may not be assigned to an officer for several days. They may not be able to respond to it for some time due to their case load. This means that avoidable illegal harm to biodiversity values is not being stopped when it reasonably could be.
We need a better resourced Environment Line, a more effective assessment and triage process, and more well-placed compliance staff to intervene promptly to stop illegal harm to biodiversity values.
It asks that the NSW Environment Line phone and email reporting service become a 7-day and public holiday service with extended operating hours.
It asks that Environment Line be adequately staff so that reports of environmental harm that are not deemed a public health emergency (these can be dealt with by the EPA or by calling 000 24/7) can be investigated remotely, triaged, and where appropriate, assigned to an adequate number of compliance staff who can attend the site and where appropriate, stop the offending work promptly. The recent restructure within NSW DCCEEW has not resolved the problem of chronic under-staffing of compliance officers, and their not being geographically positioned such that they can readily respond to high priority reports.
Currently, Environment Line operates only during normal business hours. Reports of illegal harm to biodiversity are sidelined over weekends until Monday morning, and under-staffing means that a case may not be assigned to an officer for several days. They may not be able to respond to it for some time due to their case load. This means that avoidable illegal harm to biodiversity values is not being stopped when it reasonably could be.
We need a better resourced Environment Line, a more effective assessment and triage process, and more well-placed compliance staff to intervene promptly to stop illegal harm to biodiversity values.
Why is this important?
Illegal land clearing is a common and widespread problem driven by different factors including attempts to remove biodiversity constraints to property values and development plans; ideological objections to laws and policies that constrain a land holder's ability to clear native vegetation; attempts to reinstate or create desirable outlooks from properties (these can dramatically increase property prices); seeking to profit from making land more suitable to grazing or cropping; concern about bushfire risks; illegal timber harvesting; desire to tame bushland to create a landscape that the owner considers more appropriate; and all too often, ignorance of how the law applies to particular vegetation and properties.
A better reporting and response process can reduce the incidence and extent of illegal harm to biodiversity values, whether done in ignorance or not.
A better reporting and response process can reduce the incidence and extent of illegal harm to biodiversity values, whether done in ignorance or not.