DOBBER CAPITAL Water cheating brings out worst
Brad Watts
DOBBING in people who deliberately flaunt
Canberra's tough water restrictions is setting neighbour against neighbour, the ACT Conflict Resolution Service warns.
The service's executive officer Katrina Spyrides says dobbing has become embedded in
Canberra's backyard culture and is not a positive social trend.
Actew Corporation received about 400 calls this month from residents dobbing in neighbours for breaching water restrictions, with eight infringement notices issued since December.
Ms Spyrides said while some people thought dobbing in water cheats was their "civic duty", it was not the best solution. "When you have a good relationship with you neighbour, you feel comfortable about going next door and talking to them," Ms Spyrides said.
"It's better to let it slide once, if it's not a frequent occurrence."
Ms Spyrides said sometimes dobbing was also the perfect retribution over another neighbourhood squabble.
"Dobbing is a symptom of a bigger problem if you have a bad relationship with a neighbour, they are going to know who [the dobbing] is from and that escalates the problem.
"It's un-Australian [to dob] if you don't give your neighbour the opportunity to rectify it themselves."
Traffic offences are also a prime target for ACT dobbers.
One website, idiotdriver.com.au, which provides an anonymous
forum for motorists, has been inundated with frustrated drivers posting nasty messages.
The website's manager Matt Ashton said ACT motorists ranked highly among the fuming drivers who reported dangerous traffic offences. "It's fantastic that there's a
forum where they can get something off their chest - it saves people taking their physical aggression out on people," Mr Ashton said.
"People also like the fact that it's anonymous." Another anonymous website, Rate the Plate, showed the ACT had the second highest rate of dobber drivers.
In South Australia, an official hotline for dobbing in dangerous drivers has taken more than 8000 complaints since April last year.
However, the ACT Government and ACT Policing have dismissed the idea of a dedicated hotline.
A spokeswoman for Police Minister Simon Corbell said the ACT Government had no plans to establish a similar hotline at this stage.
"We have a Crimestoppers line, where people ring about a range of crime and driving concerns they can do it anonymously and this serves our function," she said.ACT Policing said concerned drivers could report criminal behaviour on its normal response line 131444.