In the first significant crackdown in years the government plans to toughen the laws to make the venue proprietor responsible for posters advertising events.

In the Lithgow area the visual pollution from posters has reduced dramatically since Lithgow Council adopted its own hard line some years ago.

Council rangers have been instructed to remove posters wherever they appear on public property and business owners and civic minded residents have also been doing their bit.

The result has been that Greater Lithgow has been largely poster free.

Organisers of local functions usually abide by the rules and most of the offenders that still try their luck are for functions usually at hotels in the upper Blue Mountains.

In the Blue Mountains the advertising posters are a huge and ugly problem.

Up until now authorities have been limited in their ability to prosecute by the requirement to catch in the act the person placing the signage.

Now the onus is being thrown back on the operator of the venue, irrespective of whether he has authorised the posters for groups performing at his or her venue.

Attorney General Brad Hazzard says that illegal advertising posters are plastered across Sydney and local government areas in many parts of the state.

He said many posters were put up late at night and became instant eyesores on the streetscape.

Under the present laws only the person responsible can be fined and they have to be caught in the act.

Now the venue operator will be held responsible under the proposed legislation.

The Attorney General has asked the Justice Department to review all options and will also consider prosecuting businesses that do not remove graffiti from their premises.

FOOTNOTE: The good news in the crackdown is that the tougher regulations will not apply to posters for ‘temporary’ reasons like garage sales and lost pets providing they are later removed.