By JONATHON HOWARD
ASBESTOS-LADEN items being placed on nature strips for Kerbside Clean Up has prompted a safety message from Noosa Shire Council.
A Tinbeerwah resident, who did not want to be named, said he had noticed some questionable items at Tinbeerwah Street on Saturday 17 May.
The items included old furniture, signs, wire, several concrete sheets and a pipe believed to contain asbestos.
The resident said he approached council with photos and his concerns on Monday 19 May.
However, upon seeing children playing around the suspect items, the resident was again spurred into action and contacted council for an update on Friday 23 May.
“I phoned Noosa Shire Council to determine what action had been taken regarding the asbestos materials,” he said.
The resident said he received the following council response: “The matter has not been attended to yet, but the officer responsible was advised of your original complaint and given the photos you brought into council,” a spokesperson for council said.
The issue was made worse when the Tinbeerwah resident said more items had been placed on the nature strip at a different address – again suspected of containing asbestos.
Council’s manager of Waste and Environmental Health, Wayne Schafer, said the items were carefully collected by council officers and buried at a land fill.
“Council takes these matters very seriously, and I think in this case we could have responded to the resident’s concerns sooner,” Mr Schafer said.
Mr Schafer said it was important that residents know the risks of placing dangerous items on the nature strip.
“It’s a matter of community safety to ensure items that contain dangerous fibres or liquids, such as asbestos or fuel, are not placed on the street,” he said.
Mr Schafer said it was often surprising what people place on the nature strip.
“We’ve seen cases of gas bottles and fuel containers – these items are not something council can collect in a garbage compactor,” he said.
Kerbside Clean Up will continue this week with a Saturday 7 June, collection at Cooroy and Lake Macdonald, Black Mountain, Cudgerie Estate, Cooroy West, Pomona and Kin Kin (properties with recycling services only).
