By Kerri-Anne Mesner
A PARTLY demolished house in Sunshine has sparked concern over laws surrounding the removal of asbestos.
A resident, who did not want to be named, said people arrived at the site on the corner of Benjamin and Stanford Sts — near JR Parsons Reserve — on 29 February and started demolishing the house, including removing asbestos sheeting.
She said Brimbank City Council officers arrived within hours of the works starting and called a halt.
Council’s city development and statutory general manager Peter Collina said according to council records, no permit had been obtained to undertake demolition work.
“Council therefore advised that work must stop and the building must be made safe until the owner had a planning permit for the demolition of the building,” he said.
The resident said she was concerned about the risk of people passing by the site being exposed to asbestos as she had seen broken asbestos sheeting pieces in the front yard of the house, only one metre from the footpath.
She said she was also concerned at the exposure risks to people who had been stealing copper cabling and other materials — including the kitchen sink.
“It’s attracting all kinds of undesirables,” the resident said.
She said the only sign to alert passing pedestrians and neighbours of the asbestos on the site was a bit of taping on the Stanford St frontage.
“I don’t think the signage is sufficient,” the resident said.
She said after council officers had stopped the demolition work, she became concerned about the asbestos removal not being complete and rang authorities — including council, the Environment Protection Authority and WorkSafe.
“My surprise was there are no laws around removal of asbestos from residential sites,” the resident said.
She said she was told by the council, WorkSafe and the people removing the asbestos sheeting that there were three different levels of asbestos on the site.
The resident said the workmen told her to tape her windows, bring the washing in and ensure all children and adults were kept inside until they finished removing the asbestos.
Mr Collina said after receiving a phone call, the council’s municipal building surveyor and a health surveyor inspected the site.
“It was discovered that the property is covered by a heritage overlay — it is listed as a contributory building to the heritage precinct,” he said.
The resident said she was unhappy with the level of communication from council, WorkSafe and EPA about the site as none of the residents nearby knew of the demolition or the asbestos before workmen arrived.
She said she was also concerned that none of the authorities wanted to take responsibility to ensure all the asbestos was removed quickly to ensure nearby residents’ exposure levels were low — particularly when she could see there were a couple of different types of asbestos sheeting on the property which had been broken.
Mr Collina said apart from the fact that the demolition was being undertaken without the relevant planning permit, the council did not believe this site was a health issue.
“Health department inspectors who visited the site assessed that the asbestos sheeting was being removed correctly and in accordance with the appropriate safety measures,” he said.
“As an interim measure an Emergency Order has been issued requiring the owner to completely secure the site and to make the site safe.
“A planning permit application for the demolition or alterations to the exterior of this building will be processed as per the standard processes that relate to buildings covered by a heritage overlay.
“The removal of asbestos does not currently require a building permit. There are guidelines in place for the safe removal and disposal of asbestos sheeting and as indicated they appeared to be complied with. Council has checked the site this week and verified that no further work has been done.”
