Hobsons Bay council will write to Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee calling for asbestos legislation to be toughened.
The council will also write to the Victorian Workcover Authority (formerly WorkSafe) ahead of taking the issue to the Municipal Association of Victoria annual conference next year.
Cr Sandra Wilson said that by the time asbestos was discovered by demolition contractors, demolition was often under way.
“Community members have raised their concerns about the safe and appropriate removal of asbestos, but options for council to act are limited under the current system,” she said.
“Currently demolition contractors self-regulate the removal of asbestos, from demolition right through to its disposal.
“Building surveyors, who issue permits allowing demolition to take place, are in the best position to monitor the removal, but this would require legislative change.”
Cr Peter Hemphill has suggested mandatory pre-demolition inspections by building surveyors.
He said linking the inspection back to the licence of the building surveyor “might help clean up the problem to some degree”.
November is National Asbestos Month.
Goya Dmytryshchak
