PB SUBMISSION 423 Yarra Ranges Council – Biodiversity Team, Parks and Environment Department. 21st October 2016 Submission to Parliament of Victoria enquiry into the Environmental Protection Amendment (Banning Plastic Bags, Packaging and Microbeads) Bill 2016 To whom it may concern, Yarra Ranges has some of Greater Melbourne’s most intact waterways including the upper catchments of the Yarra River and Dandenong Creek. Many of these streams have very high quality riparian and in‐stream habitat, and are host to listed threatened species including the Dandenong Burrowing Crayfish (Engaeus urostrictus), Dandenong Amphipod (Austrogammarus australis) and the Slender Tree fern (Cyathea cunninghamii). Our waterways are also habitat for important fauna including Rakali (Australian native water rat – Hydromys chrysogaster), Platypus, barred galaxias fish (Galaxia fuscus) and Pobblebonk frog (Limnodynastes dunerlii). Monbulk creek is home to Australia’s oldest known platypus, ‘Wild Bill’ who was first surveyed over 25years ago. Our waterways are also significant from a cultural and social perspective. Local yallocks (creeks) were and are sites of cultural importance for the Indigenous Wurundjeri clan, being areas of food gathering and ritual. Stories about the Birrarung (Yarra River) and the great Moorool confluence reflect changes to waterways over geological timeframes. Today, local residents and visitors alike use our waterways for recreational activities and as a place of solace, with a high level of appreciation for their intact natural values. The Yarra Ranges Council’s Environment Strategy, developed through extensive community consultation, places great value on the maintenance of intact natural waterways. Plastic rubbish forms a significant source of pollution for our waterways, due to its widespread prevalence, its mobility and its longevity. Plastic litter, which floats readily, is transported into waterways via piped stormwater drainage systems, with the result that nearly all the litter from our streets ends up in our waterways. The installation and maintenance of treatment systems such as gross pollutant traps which can prevent litter entering waterways is cost prohibitive. A typical treatment system for one average sized stormwater outfall can easily cost $100,000.00, with a quarterly maintenance cost of up to $5000.00 per unit. While eradicating street rubbish involves many elements such as public behavior change, limiting the supply of plastic rubbish is a key link in the chain of improving waterway health. Plastic bags and other plastic items such as packaging and container parts harm waterways in many ways. Firstly, they can physically cause death to animals. In a survey by the Australian Platypus Conservancy in 2010, 14% of all recorded platypus deaths in were caused by entanglement in litter, a shocking statistic. Plastic litter also affects waterway flow, clogging drains and tangling in debris. Secondly, the presence of plastic in waterways reduces the aesthetic appeals of natural streams, with the result that visitors are less likely to appreciate and hence care for them during recreational use. Yarra Ranges Council is involved in community engagement and education campaigns to raise the awareness of the negative impact of litter, especially plastic bags and packaging, on waterways. These include the ‘Communities for Platypus’ and ‘Don’t Trash the Platypus’ programs which have received funding from the State Government of Victoria’s Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group and Melbourne Water. These programs are aimed at reducing the amount of litter entering upper catchment waterways. 1 of 2 PB SUBMISSION 423 Yarra Ranges Council – Biodiversity Team, Parks and Environment Department. 21st October 2016 Yarra Ranges Council also supports three ‘Plastic Bag Free’ groups in the shire, based in Dandenong Ranges, Healesville and Warburton. These groups enjoy widespread public and commercial support in their efforts to reduce single‐use plastic bags in their communities, and reflect changing public attitudes toward the need to consider the environmental implications of plastics. Single use plastics have a significant impact on the health of Yarra Ranges waterways, and Yarra Ranges Council is pleased that the State Government is conducting this Parliamentary Enquiry into their use. We look forward to being notified of the outcomes and will be particularly interested as a Council to review the final report. Regards, Matt de Boer B.Sc., Dip. Env. Water Management Officer, Yarra Ranges Council. 21st October 2016 2 of 2.