Loose-fill asbestos blow for Cremorne Point couple

IT’S like a scene out of the great Aussie comedy film The Castle, but this Cremorne Point couple isn’t laughing after their home was compulsorily acquired by the government after loose-fill asbestos was found in it.

Mr Fluffy’s cruel bite: Suzanne and Brian Turnbull out the front of their Cremorne Point home. Picture: Troy Snook

IT’S like a scene out of great Australian comedy film The Castle — but Brian Turnbull is not seeing the funny side of it.

The 81-year-old retired pharmacist and his wife, Suzanne, 69, have just had their beloved Cremorne Point unit compulsorily acquired­ by the State Government­ for demolition after loose-fill asbestos was recently­ found in the roof.

It means the scene of more than a decade of “wonderful family memories” will come crashing down when they are booted out by early next year and their unit block is bulldozed.

A scene from 1997 hit Aussie comedy flick The Castle. Picture: Roadshow

“It’s just been devastating for us,” Mr Turnbull said. “My five-year-old granddaughter loves the birds here. And about 14 people from our local church — very special friends — would come here for a meal and sit and chat every Monday night.

“We’ve made a happy home here in retirement, but the government has told us we now have to leave.”

Forced to move: Suzanne and Brian Turnbull inside their Kareela Rd unit at Cremorne Point. Picture: Troy Snook

It’s been even harder for the Turnbulls to come to terms with after a week-long air-quality test found no trace­ of asbestos fibres in their unit, one of six on the Kareela Rd block.

A sample taken from the roof did, however, produce a positive test, ruling out a Darryl Kerrigan-style “law of bloody common sense” defence against the compulsory acquisition.

Taking case to the High Court: Dennis Denuto, Lawrence Hammill and Michael Caton’s famous character of Darryl Kerrigan in a scene from The Castle.

The discovery was enough for the NSW Fair Trading’s Loose-fill Asbestos Insulation Taskforce — which was formed in 2015 — to call time on the Turnbulls’ unit block, where one resident is understood to have lived for five decades after fleeing southern France during WWII when Hitler’s forces invaded her former homeland.

New data reveals the North Sydney LGA has been the worst affected across Greater Sydney by the presence of loose-fill asbestos, which was installed in the 1960s and 1970s by a company known as Mr Fluffy.

Six of 1253 tests have returned positive results in North Sydney, ahead of four out of 8565 tests in the Hornsby LGA over the past three years. Queanbeyan has been the state’s worst hit with 60 homes out of 2135 found with the deadly fibre.

Mr Turnbull claims the roof at his property was refitted­ in the late 1980s — after the loose-fill asbestos ban came into effect in 1984.

It’s now the subject of a NSW Fair Trading investigation to determine whether the asbestos was illegally fitted in the Kareela Rd roof.

Upset: Suzanne and Brian Turnbull at their unit in Cremorne Point. Picture: Troy Snook

The Turnbulls will be compensated by the government for the loss of their home. Assessors have valued the property based on it having no asbestos and current market conditions. But Mr Turnbull claims the offer is “below” market value, which may force the couple to leave the region.

He hopes the telling of his story will act as a warning for people preparing to buy property on the lower north shore.

Set for demolition: Loose-fill asbestos was found in the roof of this unit block in Cremorne Point.

“Buyer beware,” he said. “We live in a small block with a flat, metal roof. It ought not to have had loose-fill asbestos.

“Experts in the field confidently assumed it’d be free of loose fill. And yet here we are in this awful situation.”

* For more information on loose-fill asbestos testing, go to fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property