When HL Landscapes was awarded the contract,it boasted on social media that the “scope of works includes planting over 170,000 plants and trees,supply and installation of over 12,000 square metres of pavements,placement of over 150,000 square metres of soils and mulches as well as 50,000 square metres of turf species,and installation of all park lighting,playground and fitness equipment,and street furniture”.
Roads Minister John Graham confirmed the mulch would be removed and replaced.
Murray said testing for contamination occurred before,during and after the landscaping work. Asked how asbestos ended up in the mulch,he said:“The mystery remains.”
Authorities are investigating whether an oversight in the supply process for the material is to blame.
“We need to understand how that material has turned up despite the checks,despite the accreditation,despite the approved rules that were in place of using recycled materials and mulch,” Murray said.
He promised to rectify any gap in the testing process,if there was found to be one.
“The product that has been used … is something that is regularly used in construction projects,so the mystery remains as to why there would be that[asbestos] turning up inside that project.”
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne,whose children had been playing at the site since it opened,said his council had written to the government demanding complete testing of the entire park.
“There needs to be a thorough investigation,and if it is found that the contractors or suppliers have done the wrong thing and brought asbestos contamination into a children’s playground,then the government should throw the book at them,” he said in a press conference at the park.
After much anticipation,the park was opened on December 17 last year. The nearly 10-hectare site contains 3000 trees,bike paths,two sports fields,wetlands,barbecue facilities and exercise equipment.
The masterplan for the site was announced in late 2022. The then Coalition government promised the park would“heal a scar that has separated Sydney’s CBD from the inner west”.
Previously part of the city’s freight rail network,the park runs along the City West Link,and sits on top of the M4-M8 Link between St Peters and Haberfield connecting it to the City West Link,the Anzac Bridge,Iron Cove and theplanned Western Harbour Tunnel,due by 2028.
At the park on Wednesday,locals were surprised to see the playground fenced off.
“It kind of beggars belief,” said L.J. Loch,who lives nearby and had been walking her dog at the park that morning,“that after everything we’ve been through,we end up with asbestos”.
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