Councillors in Stirling – a district in Perth, in Western Australia – have opted not to support a proposed ban on the release of helium balloons.
The council will instead amend the relevant guidelines to simply advise the public not to release helium balloons at events hosted or supported by the city.
The decision was made after a report presented at a meeting about whether to amend current guidelines or implement a local ban. The council was discussing the issue because a member of the public had reported finding a Stirling City Council-branded balloon on the local beach.
The report said releasing balloons was generally seen as not having an impact because they disappear from sight but that recent beach litter surveys showed the number of balloons and balloon pieces found on beaches had tripled in the last 10 years.
“There is an increasing body of research showing that rubber balloons and hard plastic balloon ties can have detrimental environmental impacts,” it said.
“Accompanying this research is a growing level of community pressure on state and local governments to significantly reduce these ecological impacts.”
Concerns around a ban were cited as difficulty in monitoring and enforcing it as well as needing infringement officers to witness intentional releases.
The report said a local ban would not provide the same ‘consistency’ as a statewide ban and could create confusion because of disparities between councils.
“The Government has no current plans to legislate a statewide ban on the release of balloons, however, it supports efforts to raise public awareness of the unintended consequences of releasing balloons during celebrations,” said environment minister Stephen Dawson.
Stirling will join seven other Perth local governments that have policies relating to the release of helium balloons.
