Parents are demanding a clean-up of Footscray Primary School’s asbestos-riddled oval after it was closed down by the principal over safety fears.
Footscray primary school principal Philip Fox said he has closed the oval to students due to ongoing deterioration of the surface, which has resulted in rocks protruding and an uneven and hard surface.
“My first priority is the welfare and safety of students,” he said.
“This is a precautionary measure to ensure no child falls and injures themselves on the hazards identified, and parents have been notified by school newsletter.”
Mr Fox said future use of the oval will be determined following a meeting between the school and representatives from the Education Department.
“The Department has also engaged an expert hygienist to undertake an extended monitoring program for the School’s grounds which has been conducted over several months,” he said.
“The Department’s expert hygienist conducted air quality monitoring and no asbestos fibres were detected, the fragments were removed and the area was issued with a clearance certificate.
“The Department has advised me that the oval is safe to occupy from an asbestos perspective.”
‘Wasteful’ patch ups
However parents have criticised the Department for “dragging its heels” on fixing the oval following four separate discoveries of asbestos over the past 18 months.
Phyllis Campbell-McCrae said the money spent on four separate, piecemeal patch-ups should have gone into a more permanent solution.
“It seems like a real waste. I would think that after the second time a survey of the whol playing field would have occurred.”
School council president Mark Hollis told Fairfax Media an external audit ordered by the Education Department revealed that 140 out of 170 pieces of cement sheeting found at the school tested positive to asbestos.
A large number of these pieces of cement sheeting were found on the oval, which is built above demolished houses.
Ms Campbell-McCrae said parents have worked hard over the years to raise money to improve the playing field.
She said about 500 children have now been left with no green space, whereas the Department could have remediated the site over a previous summer school holiday break.
Government called on to act
Western suburbs Greens MP Colleen Hartland raised the matter in Parliament on Wednesday, calling on Education Minister James Merlino to act on as issue the government has been aware of since 2011.
“Parents and the school have reported asbestos to the government a number of times over the years,” she said.
“Each time they came and dealt with that little bit, rather than assessing the whole oval to identify the wider problem. This failure of process by the Labor Government and the Liberal Government before them has put the kids at risk.”
The state government and Department of Education have been contacted for comment.
