On Wednesday 22 November, we held our first Community Information Session for our residents
Our first Elara Community Information Session was aimed at connecting residents with their neighbours, local community as well as local police and EPA RID squad who manage illegal dumping in the Blacktown area.
Stockland are committed to ensuring Elara is a safe, family orientated community so we invited some of the local authorities on home security to come and talk to our residents about what we can all be doing to maintain a safe community and how residents can help stop illegal dumping.
Our guest speakers were:
Detective Inspector Dave Goddard, Mt Druitt Crime Manager, NSW Police
Residents heard from Detective Inspector Dave Goddard, on how to make our homes, workplaces and community safer. Key take-outs were:
- Common sense should prevail when deterring theft from opportunistic criminals.
- Ensure you keep your garage locked, park your car in a safe and secure place, and do not leave valuables in your car.
- Consider working with your builder to program the installation of your internal and external appliances as close to moving in as possible.
- Leaving the front light on can also act as a deterrent to would-be thieves.
- Contact Mt Druitt Police if you see any undesirable or suspicious behaviour and report all incidents of theft to the Police by calling direct on 02 9675 0699. With no formal reporting of incidents the Police have no record of incidents and won’t be aware of what is happening at Elara.
- Join the Mt Druitt Police Facebook page via https://www.facebook.com/MtDruittLAC to join the conversation and support the Police who look after your community. Please note the Mt Druitt Police Facebook page will not log your issue so please contact the station directly to report crime however the crime prevention officer does monitor this page.
- Use the Elara residents Facebook page as on an online community watch tool.
Eric Ryffel, from Blacktown Investigator RID Squad, Western Sydney RID Squad
RID Squads are regionally based teams that specialise in dealing with illegal dumping and illegal landfilling. The squads are funded by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the local member councils who opt to work together and pool resources to tackle illegal dumping.
- Once settlement on your land has occurred it is the owners responsibility to take all reasonable measures to secure their lot by installing temporary site fencing as soon as possible. This can typically be coordinated through your nominated builder.
- Blacktown Council provides each household 12 council rubbish pick up services per year (available upon request with BCC) – 9839 6000
- Report illegal dumping through the EPA’s online service https://ridonline.epa.nsw.gov.au.
- If the dumped waste is an immediate threat to human health or the environment call EPA Environment Line on 131 555.
In summary, if you see any illegal dumping, dangerous or undesirable behaviour, attempted break-ins please report it directly to the relevant authority and post it on the Elara community Facebook page and/or the Mt Druitt police Facebook page.
