The remediation and reopening of a major Sydney park where asbestos was found in mulch by a child in early January has been pushed back a month, sparking outrage from the local mayor and a state MP as more contamination is found across the city.
Transport for New South Wales on Thursday announced it had been granted an extension for the works at the Rozelle parklands by the state’s environmental watchdog due to the extent of the remediation needed.
All asbestos-contaminated mulch at the Rozelle parklands is now scheduled to be removed and replaced with clean product by the end of March – a month later than originally planned – the transport department said on Thursday.
The department was working on reopening parts of the park sometime next month “pending approvals and the ability to source and lay replacement organic mulch”.
The Inner West mayor, Darcy Bryne, said the extension from the NSW Environment Protection Authority made the watchdog look like a “toothless tiger”.
“This is not a high school history assignment in which you ask for more time, this is a public safety threat that should have been cleaned up before now,” he said.
“A commuter who got fined trying to navigate traffic at the Rozelle interchange wouldn’t get a waiver so why are Transport, John Holland and CPB being let off the hook?”
The Balmain MP, Kobi Shetty, said the community was “rightly outraged about this delay”.
“It is incredibly frustrating news after we have waited so long for this park to be opened – to then have it open for less than a month before it was shut down,” she said.
“I’ll continue pressing the NSW government to make sure the park and the important shared paths through it can be opened as soon as possible. We need to determine how this contamination happened and what can be done in future to prevent similar incidents.”
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said contractor John Holland CPB joint venture had removed a lot of mulch from the site.
“An extensive amount of mulch has already been removed from Rozelle parklands, equivalent to an area the size of the original EPA notice issued on 15 January,” the spokesperson said.
“The scope of the original notice was expanded significantly on 22 January and as such we have requested an extension to complete the removal of all mulch.”
The department said remediation was delayed due to challenges in part “related to removing mulch adjacent to the road corridor”.
An EPA spokesperson said the extension was granted after Transport for NSW “cited difficulties accessing some areas in the parklands and surrounding areas” and argued it needed to take extra measures to minimise environmental impacts.
The department would be required to provide clearance certificates from a licenced asbestos assessor before the park was reopened, the EPA said on Thursday.
More contamination was detected elsewhere this week including the discovery of friable asbestos at Pirrama Park in Pyrmont. Bonded asbestos was found in mulch at Cook and Phillip Park in the CBD, Giba Park in Pyrmont and at Glebe’s Minogue Reserve and St James Park.
