Mix of relief and upset at delay
Parents of children at a West Auckland school are ‘‘relieved’’ their concerns have been listened to as planned asbestos removal work has been put on hold.
In the wake of parent protest and children absent from school on Monday, the Ministry of Education and Hobsonville Primary School’s board of trustees have announced a pause on further work until the April holidays.
Removal was due to start on March 20 during school hours, while around 40 families were calling for the work to be delayed until children were off site.
A petition was launched and around 50 children were absent on Monday. Reprieve was granted late on Monday afternoon.
However, not all the work will be able to be completed during the Easter break, as it is estimated to take three to four weeks.
The 360 tonnes of contaminated soil - from a broken cement storm water pipe - was discovered in October when work started on a new drop-off zone, bordering the school. Although the class of asbestos found at the site is deemed non-friable or bonded meaning it’s unlikely to crumble easily and release fibres - it can still turn friable when broken.
Reasons to start the removal now included a range of factors, such as the risk of children or animals disturbing the site, the contractor being originally unavailable during the April holidays and limited dump site operating hours.
Parent Lea Ann Case describes her family as ‘‘extremely relieved’’ at the outcome to postpone the work.
‘‘We don’t debate that the works need to be done - we completely understand that - we want it to happen. It’s just a matter of when it’s going to happen,’’ she says.
The school’s board of trustees chairperson Lance Norman points out while there were absences on Monday, more than 500 children were present.
‘‘Ninety per cent of the students turned up, even though there were some absolutely differing views in the media and the public domain... but [those parents] were happy to say, ‘Remove that product.’’’
He says there is no ‘‘win-win situation’’ as now 50 parents and a similar number of staff members are unhappy to leave the product where it is for yet more time. Some of the children were also now frightened the asbestos would not be removed right away.