Council tolerates littering

Gosford Council pays the dominant publisher on the Central Coast to publish and distribute its public notices.

The publisher pays children to distribute the publication.

They do this by throwing this printed matter on council's public footpaths in breach of environmental protection law.

Council claims the publisher is not the offender because it is the children they employ and not the publisher who commits the offence and council does not take action against the publisher.

Council's rangers are unwilling or unable to enforce the breach by the children.

Council's tolerance of the littering of its footpaths by the powerful publisher gives it an unfair advantage over smaller publishers who distribute advertising material lawfully.

Ratepayers remove the litter from the footpaths and pay council for its disposal by a private company.

Council does not collect any revenue from the publisher for its business use of the footpaths.

Letter, 2 Jun 2010 John Collins, Woy Woy