Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne has slammed the “enforceable undertaking” of a $150,000 payment required from John Holland and contractors CPB by the NSW EPA over the asbestos mulch debacle in the Rozelle Parklands as being just a ‘slap on the wrist’ for the construction firms that made billions of dollars in profit from the Rozelle Interchange and Parklands project.
Yesterday the EPA announced an agreed $150,000 contribution from the firms to SafeWork NSW which ensures they will not be prosecuted for their role in the asbestos fiasco, for which no one has yet been held properly accountable.
“These $150,000 “enforceable undertakings” amounts to loose change for John Holland and CPB and doesn’t send a strong enough message that the asbestos mulch crisis that engulfed Sydney’s parks must never happen again,” Byrne said.
“More than two years since the Rozelle Parklands was shut down due to this asbestos contamination this miniscule payment will not give these massive multinational firms any concern at all.
“Even after the asbestos was discovered by local families, John Holland and CPB blatantly failed to meet the EPA statutory deadlines for the asbestos to be cleaned up, resulting in the park being closed to the public for many months.
“Their response to the asbestos contamination they were responsible for was slow and under resourced. They saved far more than $150,000 by their deliberate go slow.
“Two years on from these events, not nearly enough has been done to ensure this never happens again.”
For media enquiries please contact Jonny Browne, Jonny.Browne@innerwest.nsw.gov.au