DEVELOPERS have been put on notice as council staff visit construction sites across the city as part of a statewide blitz on damaging erosion and sediment runoff.
The annual Get the Site Right campaign is aimed at developers, builders and the community to raise awareness of the harmful impacts of large volumes of sediment escaping building sites, Lake Macquarie council environmental regulation and compliance manager Derek Poulton said.
"A single building site can lose up to four truckloads of dirt in a single storm if not property contained," he said.
"That ultimately ends up in our waterways, harming aquatic ecosystems and threatening other animals such as shorebirds that rely on those ecosystems to feed and survive."
Under statewide building laws, construction sites must have a comprehensive erosion and sediment control plan.
Developers and builders who don't implement a plan face fines up to $15,000 per breach.
Mr Poulton said the blitz isn't about coming in with a heavy hand and hitting people with fines.
"It's about educating the community and working with stakeholders to improve the integrity of construction sites," he said.
"Doing so will reduce their impact on the surrounding environment, as well as make their sites more stable for development to occur, so it's a win-win."
Get the Site Right runs until October 20 and is a joint initiative of the council, catchment groups, the NSW EPA and the Department of Planning and Environment.
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