Clovelly Development Stirs Up Some Dust

By Sarah Healey on February 9, 2016 in News

Photo: James Hutton

At the corner of Clovelly Road and Knox Street lies the Clovelly RSL and Airforce Club – yet another licensed venue to have bitten the proverbial dust. The site will soon morph into a new childcare centre for the local community.

The proposal for the site, which was approved by Randwick Council on April 14, 2015, involves demolition, alterations and additions to the former RSL Club building and the establishment of a childcare centre catering for 90 children, including new parking for seven vehicles off Susan Lane. The centre will require 11 staff and the proposed hours of operation are from Monday to Friday, 7am to6pm. Although numerous locals are sad to see another RSL go, there are many who welcome the addition of a new childcare centre, with a desperate need for such a facility in the area.

Life-long Clovelly resident and mum-one-one Pearl Backhouse is pleased to see the site used to benefit so many people in the community. “I think it’ll be fine; it’s a nightmare to get into day care so the more centres the better,” Ms Backhouse said. “I heard the other day it’s a three-year wait to get into the centre in Arden Street.”

However, the change has been far from smooth sailing, with a number of locals furious about how the demolition and removal of the old building has taken place – allegedly with no formal warning that materials including asbestos were being unearthed and disposed of.

One local resident (who wished to remain anonymous) said that he was kept in the dark about the entire process.

“There were no signs, no notifications,” he said. “Children were walking around the site every day, with white dust pouring down the street and in the gutters. It was pretty savage the way they went about it. If there’s asbestos on a job, you have to go to extreme measures to make it known that asbestos is going to be removed during demolition. It was simply wrong, and I’ve spoken with many people who are outraged about what has taken place.”

Randwick Council’s Asbestos Policy document states that: “On demolition sites involving the removal of asbestos, a professionally manufactured sign must be clearly displayed in a prominent visible position at the front of the site, containing the words ‘DANGER ASBESTOS REMOVAL IN PROGRESS’ and include details of the licenced contractor… and is to remain in place until such time as all asbestos has been safely removed from the site.”

Questions have been raised about Randwick Council’s accountability for signage relating to asbestos removal during demolition, but the council was quick to fend off suggestions it had done any wrong.

“There’s a strict process, and you normally need an asbestos action plan in place, and to get a private certifier (Blackett Maguire and Goldsmith in this case) that signs off and approves that it’s been removed and disposed of in an appropriate manner,” a Randwick Council spokesperson said. “I believe [the owner] has done that.”

The Beast contacted the private certifier for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication.