Page 2266 - Week 06 - Thursday, 6 June 2019
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The bill includes provisions to capture building waste and materials which can escape a worksite and ensure that loose construction materials on private sites are properly secured. There are more options to take action against people who illegally dump items at schools, at recycling centres and in other people’s yards.
Another key feature of this bill is a new and streamlined framework for managing abandoned vehicles, which are too often seen littering roadsides and reserves. I know this is an issue of concern for many Canberrans. Quick and efficient removal of abandoned motor vehicles from our streets is important not only for how our city looks and feels but also for the safety of our roads for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
The bill expands the areas from which abandoned vehicles can be removed to include all places open to the public, not just vehicles abandoned on public unleased land, and by reducing the holding times required before vehicles are disposed of. This will mean that if a vehicle is dumped on school grounds the government can take quick action to identify the last registered owner and, where appropriate, remove the vehicle and dispose of it quickly and efficiently. This is not possible under the current framework. This bill will reduce the time abandoned vehicles are left in public and open spaces and reduce holding times and costs to taxpayers associated with vehicles that are clearly abandoned.
The second way that this bill improves the livability of the ACT is by protecting the health and safety of Canberrans. This bill protects the safety of Canberrans by introducing a new framework for aggravated littering, including depositing of dangerous items such as a syringe, which is a serious offence with potentially serious public health consequences.
This bill will protect the safety of Canberrans by ensuring that we can issue effective fines for people who litter cigarette butts. This new legislation will treat all deposited cigarettes as a form of aggravated littering as it is difficult to establish if a cigarette has been properly extinguished, and there is the potential for an apparently extinguished cigarette to rekindle in windy conditions. Data from ACT emergency services indicate that 13 per cent of all recent grass and bushfires have been caused by discarded cigarettes.
Under the bill, depositing a syringe or cigarette butt will incur an on-the-spot fine of $500. This amendment will have considerable benefits for the safety of the community and our wildlife and natural assets.
This bill will also lead to safer and cleaner roadways, as the offence of moving a vehicle with an uncovered load has been included as a vehicle-related offence. This means vehicles with uncovered loads will not need to be stopped to issue fines and fines can simply be issued by using the registration details of the vehicle. Operating a vehicle with an uncovered load will now attract a larger penalty and act as a greater deterrent to people considering not covering or tying down their loads. This amendment is of particular importance when considering road safety, as uncovered loads are a major safety risk to all road users in our community.
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