Last week, Eurobodalla Shire Council approved a notice of motion to ban the mass release of balloons at all council events and on council-managed reserves. It encouraged other councils to follow its lead.

While it should be an easy sell for the Bega Valley, we could also claim we’re not necessarily a follower on this issue.

In April 2016, then-Greens councillor Keith Hughes tabled a motion to the effect the BVSC express support for consistent national guidelines on balloon releases. It passed – not unanimously it must be said – with the resulting resolution taken to the National General Assembly of Local Government.

Unfortunately it wasn’t such a no-brainer for everyone, with the combined voice of all councils unable to come to an agreement and the motion was lost. With that it has been left to individual councils to formulate their own policies – such as Eurobodalla’s.

When we posted the balloon story to Facebook, it created a big bunch of comments, 100 per cent of which were in favour of banning helium balloons – in the Bega Valley if not everywhere.

They were roundly denounced as a danger to marine creatures and other wildlife, as well as unsightly damaging litter in our environment.

One reader pointed out the NSW Government has legislation prohibiting bunches of more than 20 from being released, but rightly questioned how often – or even how – this was enforced.

(It’s considered an aggravated offence if you release 100 or more – although, honestly, how aggravated would you be if you had 100 balloons?!)

Another reader, Caitlin Jane, shared a story with a thankfully positive result. She said she recently found some helium balloons washed up on a Bermagui beach. 

“They had clearly been in the ocean a long time as they had grown barnacles on them, had been torn and bitten by marine life and their strings had tangled tightly around seaweed.”

These balloons had a logo on them for a North Sydney real estate, to which Caitlin wrote a friendly email with photos of its litter and a request it consider more environmentally friendly alternatives to helium balloons in future.

“They appreciated my email, agreed to find an alternative and apologised for my find – a positive result.” 

It would need a current councillor to raise the issue for the Bega Valley to consider its own ban (and there’s a suggestion this is indeed in the works). Judging by readers’ response, a ban would have wide community support.  

From there, any advocacy for consistent standards across the state, or country, on helium use and helium-filled balloons would surely have a stronger footing once multiple council areas take a united stand.

Then again, if it’s already illegal in NSW for releases of 20 or more, is any local government debate a waste of air? Should the discussion be more on education about the unquestioned environmental impacts and looking to enforcement of the existing law?