Cr Tony Briffa
You might have recently heard about pieces of asbestos being found in recycled mulch in Hobsons Bay.
This started after a couple of pieces of the asbestos containing material was identified at Donald McLean Reserve, Spotswood over Easter.
Since then, council has been working with the EPA and a material hygienist to inspect all reserves that had recycled mulch put down over the past 18 months.
Any pieces of suspected asbestos have been removed from site and sent for testing, and any confirmed as being asbestos will see remediation work completed to ensure the site is safe.
It’s important to note that the EPA has said any pieces found have been small and are bonded asbestos, not the more dangerous friable asbestos, so any risk to the community is extremely low.
Still, we are taking this issue seriously and are working hard to have all sites re-opened as soon as possible. Please visit the council website for regular updates.
Something else that is really important to me is the Council’s LGBTQIA+ community liaison group.
The Hobsons Bay Pride group started last year while I was mayor, and I was so proud to be involved with this great bunch of people.
The highlight of the year was the Western Rainbow Awards, which brought together people from all over the western suburbs to recognise and celebrate the incredible work being done in the LGBTQIA+ community.
We are currently looking for people to put their hand up to be part of the community liaison group this year.
Council runs community liaison groups across a wide range of areas and interests, and it’s an important way of making sure our residents have a say in the services and programs council delivers.
Supporting, fostering and creating communities is a key function of a council’s job.
Everything we do is about making life better for our people. We collect rubbish so we have a clean city to live in, we build sporting facilities so we have places to be active and to come together socially.
Supporting underrepresented parts of our community is part of that, and this group will work together to help Council put together its Pride program for the year.
So, if you have great ideas for the community and want to be part of it, head to participate.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au and express your interest.
