Work to remediate Rozelle Parklands set to start tomorrow

Work will begin tomorrow (Tuesday 23 January) to clean-up Rozelle Parklands and safely remove and dispose of all asbestos contaminated mulch from across the site.

Contractor John Holland CPB Joint Venture will this week establish key work site facilities, erect further fencing and signage, and create special vehicle and machinery access to key locations.

The physical removal of mulch will begin shortly afterwards, with the contractor committing to:

• Complying with the current clean-up direction by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
• Developing a plan to meet a further direction from the EPA, which is expected to be released, and we understand will require the replacement of all recycled mulch delivered to the project (Parklands and other sites) over a ten-month period between 1 March and the end of December 2023.

Work will commence at the eastern Victoria Road end of the park and progress westwards to allow for the staged re-opening of the site to the community.

Contaminated mulch will be removed from garden beds before being transported from the site.

Up to 30 workers will be on site over coming weeks to methodically work through the park to ensure full compliance with the EPA’s February 29 deadline to remove affected material at the parklands site.

Once the site is cleared, new organic mulch will be spread with an EPA Accredited Site Auditor signing-off to ensure it meets all guidelines.

The mulch removal will be conducted in a way to minimise damage to tens of thousands of already established plants, turfed areas, and the shared user paths.

This process adds additional time to the completion of the work on site, with a staged approach allowing the first sections of the park to open gradually in March, with the majority of publicly accessible areas of the parkland expected to be open to the public during April.

The contractor is engaging with both the EPA and SafeWork NSW to ensure all remediation and safety protocols are followed.

Walking and bicycle paths through the park will be closed during the clean-up work.

The community are asked to revert to using pedestrian footpaths and bicycle lanes that were in place during the construction of the Rozelle Interchange Project prior to the opening of the Parkland. Detour maps will be provided by email to residents and community groups and in construction notifications to those that have registered for Rozelle Interchange project updates.

Monitoring around the site for airborne particles will continue throughout the clean-up work. Ongoing air monitoring tests have not identified anything outside of normal parameters.

Plans to remediate other areas outside the parklands which have returned positive results to targeted sampling, including garden beds adjacent to the road and paths around the junction of the Anzac Bridge, Victoria Road and City West Link are underway.

In total, Transport for NSW has identified 17 positive samples of bonded asbestos.

“We are focussed on getting this site returned to the community in a manner that provides absolute confidence in its condition, quality and safety,” Transport for NSW Secretary Josh Murray said.

“This will be a methodical process. Even when dealing with small samples of bonded material, we will be taking full asbestos handling precautions across the entire park.

“On behalf of Transport I want to thank the community for their patience during closures and testing, and while we’ve assessed the safest option to rectify and reopen.”

Transport for NSW together with contractor John Holland CPB Joint Venture will regularly update the local community as work progresses.

Further information for the community is available at the Rozelle Parklands project website or by calling 1800 660 248.