Sydney councils fail to respond to taskforce cladding concerns, Minister Matt Kean fears Grenfell Tower inferno repeat
THIRTEEN councils across Sydney and the Central Coast have failed to respond to requests to investigate buildings that could repeat the devastating Grenfell Tower inferno, the State Government claims. SEE THE LIST
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THIRTEEN councils across Sydney and the Central Coast have failed to respond to requests to investigate buildings that could repeat the devastating Grenfell Tower inferno, the State Government claims.
NSW Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean said the councils failed to respond to alarming results relating to potentially deadly cladding linked to last year’s Grenfell apartment tower fire in the UK.
A total of 435 buildings were identified as “potentially high-risk” during a joint government and Fire and Rescue NSW inspection, resulting in 33,000 letters sent to notify building owners, residents and local councils of the concerns.
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Mr Kean said the lack of investigation from council was “an absolute disgrace”.
“Our Cladding Taskforce has reviewed 185,000 building projects, conducted more than 2300 building inspections and banned dodgy cladding — but some councils can’t even be bothered to inspect and report on buildings properly,” he said.
“These councils need to pull up their socks, and get on with the job. It’s about public safety.”
Councils that failed to inspect and report on buildings identified by the taskforce included Blacktown, Parramatta, Ku-ring-gai, Ryde, Liverpool, Canada Bay, Inner West, Randwick, Campbelltown, Canterbury Bankstown, Georges River, Central Coast and Waverley Council.
On December 22, 2017, a total of 38 councils across NSW were notified to inspect and report on 247 buildings identified.
It is understood the Office of Local Government then wrote to four councils last month, which failed to respond to all notices from Fire and Rescue NSW.
The Grenfell tower inferno, which resulted in the death of 72 people in June last year, sparked an urgent statewide review of flammable cladding in buildings after it was revealed the material was found to have played a major part in the spread of the deadly blaze.
Councils yet to inspect and report on buildings
Blacktown City Council — 9 buildings referred
Campbelltown City Council — 2 buildings referred
City of Canada Bay Council — 5 buildings referred
City of Canterbury Bankstown — 4 buildings referred
Central Coast Council — 3 buildings referred
Georges River Council — 2 buildings referred
Inner West Council — 5 buildings referred
Liverpool City Council — 12 buildings referred
Randwick City Council — 5 buildings referred
City of Ryde — 9 buildings referred
Waverley Council — 2 buildings referred
WAVERLY COUNCIL
A WAVERLY Council spokeswoman hit back at Mr Kean’s claims, telling NewsLocal it has actively worked with Fire and Rescue NSW to identify buildings that needed to be examined.
“Waverley Council’s Planning Director attended a presentation two weeks ago by the State
Government and the Office of Local Government at which an update was provided on how the State Government was managing the cladding issue,” the spokeswoman revealed.
“Feedback from the councils at that presentation was that the State Government had a lot of
work to do before councils knew exactly what was being expected of them after the initial
reporting audit.”
PARRAMATTA COUNCIL
A Parramatta Council spokeswoman said the allegation against council was incorrect.
“Council responded on September 5, 2018 with a letter containing details of our actions,” the spokeswoman said.
“City of Parramatta, as well as all other councils were not directly involved with the Task Force however, properties identified by the Task Force that needed inspections were passed on to councils for action.”
The spokeswoman said council also conducted its own investigations with one complete and several others ongoing.
CANTERBURY BANKSTOWN COUNCIL
CANTERBURY Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour also rallied at the State Government following the claims made by Mr Kean.
“The Minister needs to get his facts straight before making such serious allegations,” Cr Asfour said.
“In June this year, council contacted all 12 buildings identified by Fire & Rescue NSW, giving residents three months to consider this serious issue and undertake their own investigations.”
Cr Asfour said 10 building owners responded to council’s request to undertake assessments by an independent fire engineer.
“This is simply another buck-pass by the Government, which should be enforcing the legislation it prepares,” he said.
“In fact, in this case, to date, it is yet to even draft legislation and only informed councils on the process they should follow a week ago.
“On top of that, the Government has not provided councils with any financial assistance, which is just typical of how it operates.”
RYDE COUNCIL
A CITY of Ryde spokesman said council refuted the ‘very serious’ claims by Mr Kean, telling NewsLocal the statements were incorrect and misleading.
“The City of Ryde has been and still is working closely with the Department of Planning and Environment and NSW Fire and Rescue, who are coordinating the response,” the spokesman said.
“In Ryde specifically, the Department of Planning and Environment has commenced fire safety compliance action against 10 properties where Concept Plans were approved by the Minister for Planning.
“Council is undertaking the same audit reporting on 17 other properties and is following the same methodology as the Department of Planning and Environment in completing the audit process.”
The spokesman said ‘Notices of Proposed Fire Safety Orders’ are being sent to any affected property owners and council staff are providing them with assistance throughout this process.
“What should be noted is that councils are still awaiting on the release of specific regulations from the State Government particularly on how the cladding testing regime will be managed,” he said.
CANADA BAY COUNCIL
CANADA Bay mayor Angelo Tsirekas said he was ‘hugely disappointed in Mr Kean’.
“We don’t take any half measures with our residents’ safety and we are disturbed that the State Government is playing politics with such an important issue,” he said.
“The City of Canada is working closely with the NSW Department of Planning and NSW Fire & Rescue to address the risk of fire attributed to aluminium composite cladding.”
Cr Tsirekas said the council participated in all Local Government NSW Fire Cladding Taskforce Meetings after being approached to identify clad buildings by the Planning Department.
“The City of Canada Bay undertook a visual audit of all buildings within our local government area and identified a number of buildings that appear to have aluminium composite cladding and forwarded information to the department,” he said.
“The ‘high risk’ buildings to which Minister Kean refers were identified by NSW Fire & Rescue.”
Cr Tsirekas said council commenced investigations of all ‘high risk’ buildings identified by the joint investigation and “commenced action”.
“Due to a large number of buildings identified and the lack of legislative support, the process will take considerable time,” he said.
“I am anxiously awaiting the introduction of new legislation by the State Government foreshadowed by the Taskforce to further the process in dealing with such matters.”
KU-RING-GAI COUNCIL:
Ku-ring-gai Mayor Jennifer Anderson said Mr Kean’s claims were false.
“Ku-ring-gai Council provided a detailed reply to the questionnaire,” Cr Anderson said.
“After the Grenfell Tower fire in London, council took a proactive approach, prior to there being any direction from the State Government at that time.
“Ku-ring-gai Council inspectors undertook a program of visiting and auditing every multi-occupancy unit block erected since 2005.”
The council set up a building data base that identified properties of concern, according to Cr Anderson.
“Council also set up a web page so as to provide concerned residents with some educational and reference material regarding fire safety and external wall cladding,” she said.
“On 20 September 2017, the buildings were then sent a letter from council alerting the owners of the possible concern and recommended actions.”
Cr Anderson said the council also supplied building owners with a list of consultants.
“Council will be writing to both the Minister and the Premier seeking an explanation about the false information,” she said.
“It is particularly frustrating when Ku-ring-gai Council has been so proactive.”