Decision details

Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Scully –

It is resolved that: 

(A)        Council note:

(i)          new research carried out by researchers at Macquarie University has found that inner city Sydney has dangerous levels of lead contamination in our soil;

(ii)         the City of Sydney has the highest levels of lead contaminated soil of any local government area in Sydney, with an average contamination level of 703mg of lead per kilogram of soil;

(iii)        that 63 per cent of inner city Sydney homes have soil which exceeds safe levels of lead content per kilogram;

(iv)       that exposure to lead contamination has serious health effects, especially in children; and

(v)         the City of Sydney has already taken significant steps to remediate soil contaminated with lead in the Sydney local government area, including through imposing conditions of consent on development to ensure remediation occurs and, where possible, remediating City-owned land; and

(B)        the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)          ensure the City continues to remediate its own land as upgrades occur;

(ii)         continue to require conditions of consent for remediation of private land; and

(iii)        develop an education campaign to advise the community of the risks of contaminated land and measures City of Sydney communities can take to mitigate these risks.

Carried unanimously.

S129266