Ballina Shire’s balloon ban is to again be debated by councillors, less than a year after coming into effect, thanks to a motion from Independent Councillor Rod Bruem.
Cr Bruem says the ban means two of the major drawcards at this year’s Our Kids Day Out fundraiser won’t be able to happen.
Our Kids Day Out is a day of children’s entertainment and activities aimed at raising funds for charity Our Kids, which supports children’s wards and special care nurseries on the Northern Rivers.
Cr Bruem has proposed amending the ban agreed on by councillors in June last year to allow performers and entertainers at community and fundraising events to continue using balloons so long as they are biodegradable and non-helium balloons.
The independent’s motion also suggests stipulating ‘every effort is made to ensure waste is appropriately collected and disposed of’ when the biodegradable balloons are used.
Biodegradable balloons not always biodegradable, study finds
Councillors last year voted unanimously in support of the balloon ban proposed by Greens Cr Kiri Dicker on environmental grounds.
Similar bans exist in other jurisdictions, such as the Tweed Shire.
Studies cited by Cr Dicker in her motion last year showed detrimental effects of balloon waste and other soft plastics on marine and shorebird life, with many animals mistaking the waste for food.
A 2020 University of Tasmania study cited found many balloon maker claims of ‘100% biodegradable’ products were untrue.
‘After 16 weeks in freshwater, saltwater and industrial compost conditions, latex balloons did not degrade,’ Cr Dicker’s motion last year noted.
Staff notes on Cr Bruem’s motion show the ban has been incorporated into the council’s event guidelines ‘that support Council’s Events on Public Land Policy as well as the Fundraising and Street Stalls Policy’.
The ban has been in place since January and applies to the release of all balloons at events on public land and at council-owned facilities where all, or part, of the event occurs outside.
The ban doesn’t apply to events on private land but the Our Kids Day Out event is usually held on public land at Ballina’s Missingham Bridge Amphitheatre.
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