Meander Valley Council working together

Due to the nature of rural and urban activities conducted in the Meander Valley Municipality, there are various Environmental Pollutants, which need to be minimised where ever possible, to make life comfortable for all residents. This page discusses different types of Pollution, the regulations involved, and how you can help.

You can help keep the Meander Valley area beautiful. If you witness littering, please fill out the form below and forward it to: Litter Officer, EPA Division, GPO Box 1550, Hobart, TAS, 7001.

Meander Valley Council has created the brochures below to assist you if issues arise in your neighbourhood. Below is our Noise Pollution Brochure. It contains important information and relevant regulations regarding noise. Please note the 'Neighbourhood Disputes and Environmental Nuisances' brochure is relevant for all neighbourhood activities.

Many activities can effect air quality. Of these, wood smoke is most common from domestic wood heaters and rural and Forestry burn offs. Wood smoke significantly contributes to over all air quality, so managing it appropriately is important.

The website below provides information to the community about real-time air quality monitoring, and how it can impact health.  The website also provides precautionary health advice
alerts when smoke levels are elevated in a location. The health advice is aimed at individuals who are more susceptible to the harmful effects of wood smoke. This includes people with lung conditions (including asthma), heart disease, the elderly and young children. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Authority provide the following link to their website: wood smoke | air quality |your health

The Backyard Burning Regulations (see brochures below) require that burn offs should only be conducted on land that is larger than 2,000 square meters. Guidelines on the type of material being burnt still applies for burn offs on land larger than 2,000 square meters, for example, no painted or treated wood should be burnt, neither should any plastic material. Penalties and/or prosecution applies for people breaching these regulations.

How can I dispose of my garden waste if backyard burning is prohibited? 

There are many alternatives to burning garden waste:

• Within the Meander Valley Municipality there are a number of private waste removal contractors
• Utilising a domestic compost bin can be beneficial for your garden
• Worm farms are a popular choice when it comes to disposing of garden waste, and can also enrich your garden
• Employing a waste mulching/chipping contractor is an effective way of dealing with garden waste, and the resulting wood chips could come in handy for your garden
• Disposal sites are located at Westbury, Deloraine, Mole Creek and Meander, you can take your garden waste to any of these sites
• Some community service groups within Meander Valley are willing to assist the elderly and infirm with garden maintenance