Australian councils ban balloons

The simple magic of helium balloons has been popped – councils all over Sydney are banning them. One kill-joy council ranger even attempted to stop a toddler playing with a balloon at a local festival.

The bureaucrat from Canada Bay Council threatened a priest handing a helium balloon to two-year-old Lewis Sylvester at the Five Dock Ferragosto festival last week.

The ranger rounded on the priest with the terse warning: "I've already told you once. You can't hand out those balloons, it's an offence."



Canada Bay is among the increasingly officious councils that have outlawed helium balloons.

Marrickville and Willoughby have banned them while Manly and Waverley have gone a step further and banned both helium and regular balloons.

Under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act it is an offence to release 20 or more "lighter than air" balloons at the same time, with a fine of $200 for an individual and $400 for a corporation.