Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Come to the park for a public meeting about asbestos

Local residents and visitors to the playground at Baden Morgan Reserve at Roberts Street Northcote are invited to a public meeting there starting at 4.30pm this Wednesday 5 March. The meeting will discuss safety concerns about the management of asbestos during the demolition of the adjacent Roberts Street public housing estate.

Asbestos removal will begin next Tuesday 11 March with key questions still to be answered by the government about the safe management of asbestos on the site during the demolition of the derelict estate (see post below).

In addition to questions about testing and asbestos control measures, the meeting will discuss the absence of any information about how the adjacent park and children's playground will be protected from residual contamination.

At the meeting I will be explaining the issues and unanswered questions that arise directly from the Office of Housing's own documents. I will also be calling for a postponement of the works until adequate information has been released and sufficient time has been allowed to consider its implications for public health and safety.

So please come along. With one week until the works begin, this is the community's last chance to achieve a safer outcome. If you have children, please bring them – it may the last time you'll feel comfortable letting them play on the swings.

For further background, see these earlier posts:

Money for birthday junk mail, but not for asbestos disclosure
Demo safe for Northcote families?
A quick tour of Roberts Street
Top ten questions about asbestos at Roberts Street
Tender fiasco a telling error
Thousands for minister's PR visit to asbestos site

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