Posters under attack

BY JEREMY BROWN
The newly-elected Waverley Council has moved to tackle what it regards as a major pollution problem: bill posters.

Liberal Mayor Sally Betts introduced a special motion at the November 18 council meeting to deal with ‘unsightly’ posters.

‘They are also an illegal form of pollution and detract from the overall cleanliness of our area,’ the mayor said. The motion passed unanimously.

Councillor Betts said the council was not trying to repress political or community activity and pointed out the policy has the support of all parties in the council.

‘We definitely don’t want to impact on things like local community affairs and events,’ she said. ‘Keeping Waverley clean is a big task, but if we start doing a whole range of small actions, the result will be a much more attractive and appealing area for all.’

The mayor agreed there was a need for places in Waverley where people could advertise upcoming meetings and events, and said there were plans to introduce public noticeboards throughout the council area.

The main targets of this campaign, she said, were the big commercial postering companies who put up posters and do not take them down, leaving an ‘unsightly’ mess for the council to clean up.

‘Cleaning up our beautiful area is top of my agenda. We’re going to blitz Waverley,’ Cr Betts said. ‘Hot spots will be inspected daily and posters removed within 48 hours as part of our ongoing campaign. Repeat offenders will be warned and fined if they continue to plaster their notices up.’

A month earlier the City of Sydney Council passed a similar resolution, giving council officers powers to impose fines of up to $1500. Originally the City of Sydney allowed few exceptions to the blitz, but backed down in response to protests led by the Greens and the Sydney Free Speech Alliance – which included putting up posters for the Walk Against Warming outside the Town Hall – indicating that political posters, those relating to public interest causes and community notices would not be targeted.

Greens councillor Chris Harris said the City was using the Protection of the Environment Act 1997 to find and prosecute those who post notices in the public domain.

‘Council claims the law is aimed at the professional poster companies but small political and human rights groups have received notification that they will be fined if they put up posters within the city limits. This is a gross attack on freedom of speech,’ he said.

Sydney Posters notes on its website: ‘To the best of our extensive experience no NSW state legislation prohibits advertising on poles (except election material), despite the belief otherwise of some zealous councils and police.’