August 6th, 2007

Following a recent discovery of asbestos in the area, Randwick City Council has announced intentions to regularly take samples to test the air in the park – a move that has been welcomed by many people. A consulting firm will carry out the works, which involves the use of six air monitoring units.

According to reports the air sampling is to be carried out for one day every three months, but not everyone is happy with this decision. One official stated that action should have been taken earlier, and that one day's testing every few months simply was not enough.

The Deputy Mayor in the area stated: "This issue is not going to go away. The community wants something to be done. The Greens have behaved responsibly over this, while Labor have been complacent and underestimated the strength of community feeling."

However, a Labor spokesperson responded by saying: "Labor believe this issue is best dealt with by experts, which is why we supported the testing. We need to wait for the results to find out the extent of the problem. We do not believe in creating a heightened state of alarm before we know what we're dealing with."