Asbestos removal on former Randwick Barracks site sparks resident questions
Parents of a South Coogee childcare centre have requested their children by transferred to other facilities after asbestos was discovered less than 10 metres from the centre’s gates.
The removal of asbestos from a former Randwick Barracks site has sparked concern among local homeowners and parents of a nearby childcare centre.
The Department of Defence has launched an extensive clean-up of historical contamination including bonded asbestos from a strip of land on the corner of Joongah St and Argyle Cres.
The works are part of the department’s plan to redevelop the vacant site into 36 single storey homes.
Parents of Moverly Children’s Centre, run by Randwick Council across the road, said they found out about the clean-up when contractors wearing protective suits and breathing masks arrived in late February.
The Department of Defence acting managing director Brett Jorgensen said contamination including small amounts of bonded asbestos posed a “minimal health risk to offsite users.”
Mr Jorgensen said the asbestos was believed to be traced to former defence storage buildings on the site, however, the “exact source remains unknown.”
“All remediation activities are being undertaken in accordance with industry best practice and state codes of practice and legislation,” he said in a statement.
“Daily air monitoring activities are (also) undertaken to confirm the suitability of controls have not reported detectable fibres or dust.”
Information sessions about the works were held with the owners of 84-166 Holmes Street and the First Class Learning Centre, backing on to the site, in 2018.
But the sessions did not extend to the Moverly Children’s Centre on Argyle St.
Parent Constantine Veneris has asked Randwick Council to transfer his 10-year-old daughter to another childcare centre until the remediation is completed.
He believes parents should have been informed about the works.
“The first we found out (about the remediation) was when the fences went up and men arrived in these white outfits and breathing masks,” he said.
“There was a strong easterly blowing dust directly into the childcare centre.
“We weren’t told if there were any health impacts.
“Even if the risk is negligible, parents should have been informed so we could have made other arrangements.”
Randwick Council said it was not aware of the remediation until being contacted by residents in February.
A council spokesman said a site visit on February 19 by council staff found the works “were being conducted in an appropriate manner consistent with the site management plan”.
The land is owned by the Commonwealth, meaning the Department of Defence did not require council approval to remediate the site.
Planning records show the site has been earmarked for redevelopment since 2002.
The Department of Defence said the “full extent of contamination was quantified in 2018 following very detailed and complex site investigations”.
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