Page 3817 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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the pallets were not a significant immediate risk. The fire brigade were satisfied that measures were in place to manage the risk and was further satisfied that steps were being taken through the development of new licence agreements for tenants at Parkwood to make sure that waste stockpiles and recycling stockpiles were appropriately managed.
So I am confident, Madam Deputy Speaker, that both the government agencies such as the Fire Brigade, Property Group and others were well aware of what steps were being taken and the risks involved at Parkwood. They took appropriate steps to inspect. Where risks have been identified in the past, they have acted on those risks and made sure that those risks have been mitigated.
In relation to the timber stockpile, however, the Fire Brigade did not consider, on inspection earlier this year, that the stockpile was at a level that it presented immediate or substantial risk. I am pleased that that has proved to be verified following the unfortunate fire.
There is a range of further works being undertaken in relation to Parkwood. The government has been diligent in managing these issues. Just to give you some examples, officers of the ACT Property Group conducted site inspections of all tenancies at Parkwood in December 2009. As a result of this, follow-up letters were sent later that day—23 December—to all tenants, with 20 tenants identified as requiring clean-up. A further inspection was conducted two months later in February 2010 with an ACT Fire Brigade representative, and a noted improvement from the previous site visit was apparent.
A further follow-up inspection was conducted on 5 May 2010, and ACT Property Group advised several tenants of concerns over the state of their sites and requested rectification action of the sites. Tenants were also advised that further inspections would occur and that the ESA may be involved. Further inspections were undertaken by ACT Property Group, on both 17 and 29 September 2010, 22 October 2010 and on 11 and 23 February 2011. So you can see that there has been an ongoing regime of inspection of the sites which are held under licence from the territory and run by a variety of businesses in the waste and recycling area.
The government have also identified that when it issues new licence agreements for tenants as their existing licences come up for expiry we will develop new clauses governing the size and management of stockpiles. Work is ongoing on the new template in preparation for the current licences expiring in 2012.
Officers of ACT Property Group have on two occasions since March 2011 spoken with the owner of NoWaste Wood Busters and requested that the stockpile of wood be reduced. The owner has advised that a mulching machine had to be sent to Melbourne for repairs, and that this was delaying his ability to prepare the stockpiled timber for recycling. The government is committed to working with tenants to ensure that sites are safe and that appropriate clauses are included in licensing agreements to reflect this, as I mentioned earlier.
As you can see, a range of actions and steps have been undertaken. Not only is the government actively inspecting the site, not only is the Fire Brigade actively
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