THE war against litter will play to the strengths of Port Stephens Council armed with a $33,000 grant.
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In-car dash cams and ranger training formed part of the previous round that council is eager to build on.
The state government hopes this third round grant will achieve a 40 per cent reduction in litter by 2020.
“Councils know where their litter hotspots are and they know how to tackle them better than anyone,” Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said.
The grant was part of a $1.2 million statewide spend this time around.
“This project will target litter at two main road sites leading to industry and tourist destinations,” Port Stephens Council general manager Wayne Wallis said.
“The project will focus heavily on building partnerships with key business and community stakeholders to support the campaign.”
In the last round the council rolled carried out deterrence measures like installing Hey Tosser signs and banners at key sites and conducted mail outs. This was in addition to surveillance and penalty measures.
Under the first two funding rounds, more than $2.5 million was awarded to almost 40 councils. Councils have subsequently reported an average litter reduction of 60 per cent at target sites.
"Our region is renowned for its picturesque coastline and natural environment and this funding will help to reduce the impact of littering. This is a great initiative and we'd like to thank the government for their contribution," Mr Wallis said.
Environment Minister Mark Speakman said this anti-litter program would continue to help the government achieve one of the Premier’s 12 priorities, being the reduction of litter volume by 40 per cent by 2020.
The government has also announced a state-wide container deposit scheme, starting in July 2017, to help meet this target.
The Council Litter Prevention grants program is funded under the NSW government’s $465.7 million Waste Less Recycle More initiative.
