Clean-up volunteers battle red tape
The good intent of volunteers trying to clean up road sides as part of next month’s Clean Up Australia Day is under threat from bureaucratic controls according to The Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes.
Dr Sykes said, “As a result of concerns raised with me by a resident of the Strathbogie Shire, my colleague Paul Weller, National Party Spokesperson for Roads, took up the issue with the Roads Minister, Tim Pallas in Parliament this week.
Mr Weller told Parliament, “Every year communities and individuals band together and work to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment on Clean Up Australia Day. Over the past 16 years Australians nationwide have spent more than 8 million hours picking up litter along the sides of our roads and have collected more than 200,000 tonnes of rubbish, yet despite the good work and goodwill of these volunteers in Victoria, their efforts to gain permission from VicRoads to clean the verges of the authority’s roads are hampered by reels of red tape”.
Dr Sykes said, “Groups must obtain approval from local councils, Victoria Police and relevant local authorities. A traffic management plan must be submitted to VicRoads to comply with the work-site safety traffic management code of practice.
“Following that emergency service organisations and public transport authorities need to be informed and organisers are then expected to provide road signage and protective clothing for volunteers.
“This complicated process needs reforming before organisers decide to cancel local road clean up events.”
Dr Sykes concluded, “I call on the Government to implement road clean up event policies which simplify processes while still protecting the safety of volunteers and the general public”.
Dr Sykes said, “As a result of concerns raised with me by a resident of the Strathbogie Shire, my colleague Paul Weller, National Party Spokesperson for Roads, took up the issue with the Roads Minister, Tim Pallas in Parliament this week.
Mr Weller told Parliament, “Every year communities and individuals band together and work to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment on Clean Up Australia Day. Over the past 16 years Australians nationwide have spent more than 8 million hours picking up litter along the sides of our roads and have collected more than 200,000 tonnes of rubbish, yet despite the good work and goodwill of these volunteers in Victoria, their efforts to gain permission from VicRoads to clean the verges of the authority’s roads are hampered by reels of red tape”.
Dr Sykes said, “Groups must obtain approval from local councils, Victoria Police and relevant local authorities. A traffic management plan must be submitted to VicRoads to comply with the work-site safety traffic management code of practice.
“Following that emergency service organisations and public transport authorities need to be informed and organisers are then expected to provide road signage and protective clothing for volunteers.
“This complicated process needs reforming before organisers decide to cancel local road clean up events.”
Dr Sykes concluded, “I call on the Government to implement road clean up event policies which simplify processes while still protecting the safety of volunteers and the general public”.
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posted by Greg Naylor at
5:41 PM
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