Page 3816 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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The ACT Fire Brigade works proactively with tenants and operators to implement risk management strategies and hazard mitigation plans. If cooperative arrangements cannot be reached, under the Emergencies Act 2004 the Fire Brigade has powers to issue an improvement notice to remove flammable material. If an ACT Fire Brigade inspector believes on reasonable grounds that flammable material is kept on the premises in a way that may cause, directly or indirectly, damage to life or property if there is a fire, the inspector may direct the owner of the premises to take action to remove the danger.
That is the regulatory framework that is in place in relation to Parkwood, as it is in place for all commercial areas, and indeed residential areas, across the territory. The Emergencies Act also provides powers to the Fire Brigade to arrange for the removal of a fire hazard at the owner’s expense. It is an offence to fail to comply with an improvement notice.
I think it is worth highlighting what steps have been taken to address the fire safety issues at Parkwood specifically. Previous concerns regarding risks and hazards were raised at All Bulk, a tyre recycling business located in the Parkwood recycling estate in February 2007. The government responded to these concerns by means of a proactive approach to identify, assess, prioritise and manage identified risks. The fire brigade met with the tenant of All Bulk in February 2007 to identify a practical solution to mitigate the safety concerns held at the time regarding acceptable limits of storage of tyres. The tenant provided an undertaking to source an alternative arrangement to dispose of the tyres. Site inspections were undertaken by the ACT Fire Brigade following ongoing consultation with ACT Property Group, Territory and Municipal Services and the tenant.
In late 2007, a whole-of-government interdepartmental committee was established to identify strategies to manage risks and hazards related to the storage of tyres at the All Bulk site located in the Parkwood recycling estate. As I previously advised members in question time earlier this week, the risks associated with a large fire in the tyre stockpile were significant, as the material that would have been sent into the air from such a fire had the capacity to impact on the west Belconnen substation and impact on the ability of the substation to operate appropriately. That substation is obviously one of the main receiving points for interstate electricity connection for the territory.
The Fire Brigade, ACT Property Group, ACT WorkCover, ACT Government Solicitor, NoWaste, Environment Protection Authority, Health, TransGrid and ActewAGL were represented on this committee. The committee met on a number of occasions and developed an action plan to deal with the identified risk. This resulted in the removal and burial of a large volume of tyres and the implementation of guidelines for All Bulk regarding any future tyre storage. Once this issue was resolved, there were no further issues that required referral to the interdepartmental committee.
In relation to the issues that have been raised at the wood recycling business—Wood Busters as it is known—at Parkwood, in March this year, the ACT Fire Brigade received an inquiry regarding a pile of timber pallets within the Parkwood recycling estate. They undertook a site inspection in March this year and they determined that
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