Taxpayers could be lumped with Rozelle asbestos removal bill

Taxpayers could be lumped with the bill for the removal of asbestos-laced mulch in the Rozelle Parklands and the months-long remediation costs.

Taxpayers could be made to fork out the cost for the months-long remediation of the Rozelle Parklands and the removal of asbestos contaminated mulch.

Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray would not confirm whether construction contractor John Holland would be made to pay the cost to make parklands, despite being responsible for delivering the site. He also would not confirm how much the extensive remediation works would cost.

“It would not be right to go into commercial negotiations,” Mr Murray told media on Monday.

“The expectation is that (the park) is delivered under existing contractual arrangements.”

Sydney's Rozelle Parklands is closed not long after it opened in December last year due to asbestos being found in the park. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

John Holland, executive general manager Mark Davies said he believed the company had done everything correctly in terms of testing the mulch, saying they had been done through an independent certified testing company.

He said the company had followed government guidelines to test the mulch before and after it was placed in the parklands.

An investigation into how the asbestos came to be in the park is being conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Earlier this month John Holland executives admitted the mulch, provided by landscaping supplier Greenlife Resource Recovery, had been used on other projects across Sydney.

Yet on Monday Mr Davies confirmed the construction company was not doing any further testing on previously completed projects where the mulch may have been used until instructed to do so by the EPA.

Josh Murray, Transport NSW Secretary refused to rule out whether taxpayers would be made to pay for the clean-up. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

“We’re not doing any further testing,” he said.

“Until the EPA have provided us with further information on their insights into the reasons behind traces of asbestos … we’re waiting for that information so we can actually make a decision within the business as to what we do.”

This comes as work to remove the contaminated mulch starts tomorrow, with over 30 John Holland staff working to remove the toxic material by the February 29.

Parts of the parkland will open to the public by April when the mulch is fully removed.

John Holland will also provide the new mulch but has ensured they will get it from a different supplier, which will be spread with an EPA-accredited site auditor monitoring the process.

All walking and bicycle paths through the park will be closed while the clean-up is underway.
The remediation will also include areas where asbestos was found outside the parklands, including garden beds around the junction of Anzac Bridge, Victoria Road and City west Link.

Opposition Infrastrucure spokeswoman Natalie Ward said the clean-up and additional works should be done at no cost to the taxpayer.

“Taxpayers should not have to pay twice for these parklands or pay lawyers to sort this out,” she said.

“The Transport Secretary was apparently employed for his undustry experience, he should be able to sort this out with no cost to the taxpayers fairly quickly.”

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