‘My life’s work’: Alphington traders in limbo after asbestos shutdown

More than a dozen Melbourne businesses have been affected by asbestos exposure at a council-owned property that threatens their livelihood and might have put their health at risk.

Business owners at Melbourne Innovation Centre (MIC) in Alphington also face the prospect of their stock and equipment being destroyed once asbestos hygienists stop work on Friday afternoon.

Melbourne Innovation Centre tenants in Alphington have been barred from their workshops and stock.Credit: Scott McNaughton

There are 38 businesses operating at the site including the Alphington Farmers Markets, electric vehicle designers, environmental consultants, mechanics, craft brewers, furniture makers and sculptors.

The MIC is a charity business incubator that has operated since 1998 on a former tip site owned by Darebin Council. Tenants are offered below-market rent to help launch small businesses.

While tenants have long known some buildings on the site contained asbestos in walls and roofs, the centre – which acts as the landlord to tenants and runs the lease on the council’s behalf – said regular air testing had “always [returned] results at safe levels”, centre chief executive David Williamson said.

But on November 22, a number of traders were advised that asbestos testing would need to be undertaken in their workshops and studios over two days, on the expectation they could resume work on November 25. But more than three weeks later, 14 businesses are still barred from their workplaces and their assets inside. It is unclear if they will be able to ever enter again.

On November 30, council officers told traders that through a process of “due diligence” ahead of the lapse of the site’s 25-year lease in May, dust particles from the asbestos ceilings and walls were detected in some sheds, and that the sites needed to be closed for remediation.

Asbestos remains in many Melbourne buildings but can be considered safe if not disturbed.

At the November meeting, tenants learned that dust particles were first detected in 2020 and at the time were deemed “medium risk”. In the same meeting, tenants were advised to seek medical advice and that any items unable to be cleaned by hygienists could be sent to landfill.

The Age has corroborated these accounts with several people who attended the meeting.

One of the two sheds shut down at the Alphington site over asbestos fears.Credit: Scott McNaughton

Nick Rennie, a furniture designer who has worked at the site for 23 years, said tenants were given no notice to empty their workshops and had waited daily at the site for hygienists to pass over any items deemed clean.

“Tears, no sleep and complete and utter devastation are a common theme every morning onsite when trying to find more information,” he said.

Rennie said cleaners told him they were not contracted to do any more work on his space after Friday afternoon, which raised questions over what would happen to stock left behind.

Costume maker Elena Mazziotta has worked in a studio at the site for 15 years creating mascot-style costumes for TV shows and productions, but her livelihood hangs in the balance.

Elena Mazziotta with the fraction of costumes and materials salvaged from her workshop.Credit: Rachael Dexter

Mazziotta has been barred from entering her room on the mezzanine floor, where she keeps fabric, sewing machines, costumes, spools of thread and patterns.

She said hygienists who were cleaning her space had retrieved a fraction of her stock that happened to be in plastic boxes. Mazziotta said she was told it was unlikely anything porous – such as fabrics and paper – could be kept.

“It was surreal,” she said. “No warning, no chance to get stuff out, no nothing,” she said.

“I won’t get my furs, I won’t get my silks, I won’t get my fabrics [or] my patterns. That’s all my IP, you know?

“I’ve got 15 years of patterns in there.”

Raoul Luescher, a sports technologist who provides handle-bar extensions for professional cycling teams, cried as he looked over items in a shipping container, which represents the remainder of his business, Luescher Teknik.

Luescher said without access to his workshop, his major contracts were at risk and he was unable to complete dozens of safety checks and repairs at what is usually his busiest time of year.

“That’s my life’s work up there,” he said.

“What changed three weeks ago? How come it went from being acceptable to being unacceptable overnight?

“If we assume that things are contaminated, how is that affecting people who have been in there? Have my customers been exposed?”

In response to questions from The Age, Darebin Council publicly released the asbestos testing data conducted by private environmental firm SLR Consulting.

Darebin chief executive Peter Smith said the council was “absolutely committed to being open and transparent and have continued to keep tenants updated through the MIC”.

“It was important to council that we publish the report findings and ensure the tenants and the community have confidence in the process,” he said.

Carbon bike specialist Raoul Luescher with the few salvaged bike pieces from his workshop.Credit: Rachael Dexter

A statement released by Darebin Council on Thursday said that as the owner of the land, [it] “will be obliged to ensure the site is free of harm to human health before the site is reopened to the public” and that SLR was also “engaged to determine the extent of any potential removal works required on site”.

In a separate statement issued to The Age, a council spokeswoman said that “matters of compensation will be addressed in due course as appropriate, as will the history of the buildings and any previous assessments that may have been undertaken”.

The statement also said the lease did not provide a rental income for the council, with the MIC operating rent-free in exchange for maintaining the site.

Two Darebin councillors, former mayor Lina Messina and Trent McCarthy, are current directors of the Melbourne Innovation Centre. Both declined to comment.

A WorkSafe spokesman said the watchdog had visited the site and, “will continue to monitor to ensure duty holders are complying with occupational health and safety obligations”.

The EPA said it was notified in early December, and had not conducted the testing or monitoring for asbestos.

Northcote MP Kat Theophanous on Thursday said she wrote to Smith and Mayor Julie Williams to request a meeting before the council’s final public meeting for the year, on Monday night.

While “the health and safety of our community is paramount”, “a lot of questions remain”, Theophanous said.

“Our community is worried, businesses are hurting, we don’t have any clarity on the extent of the health risk that’ve been identified,” she said.

“We don’t have any information on the fate of the businesses that make up the precinct and we don’t have any certainty about council’s long-term intentions for the site.”

Williamson said “the whole situation is devastating”, and that the incubator had expressed “a clear desire to continue operating at the site long term” to the council.

“Our purpose as an organisation is to support businesses, which we have delivered on for 25 years, and we won’t be stopping now,” he said.

“We would appreciate any further supports that could be offered by all levels of government during this challenging time.”

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