Richmond Valley Council criticised over aerodrome contamination
Richmond Valley Council knew about contamination of the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome in 2005 but failed to warn residents living on former aerodrome land, and users of the aerodrome, about potential risks to human health for two years, Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome Commitee president Richard Gates said.
“Precautionary advice from Council should have been given to residents two years ago when the problem became apparent,” Dr Gates said.
“It’s hard to understand why people’s health was put at risk. Council had a duty of care to deal with the issue back in 2005. Why did it take until October 2006 for Council to notify the appropriate authorities? And why is Council only now testing for contamination? Council’s inaction is inexcusable. It makes a mockery of Council’s claim that it has ‘acted with the interest of residents and ratepayers foremost in mind’. If residents came first, why were they left until last for testing?”
Dr Gates said the council revealed late last year there was a significant contamination problem but refused to release reports until just recently. It refused on the grounds that the reports ‘were not yet finalised’. “This explanation is hard to reconcile with the fact that one report was completed in September 2005. Council has a credibility problem,” Dr Gates said.
He said the 2005 report mentions potential risks to recreational users of the aerodrome and Council staff, and recommends further testing of groundwater quality to determine whether contamination was affecting off-site ground water users, that is, local residents. “This warning signal should have been enough to invoke precautionary action by Council so that people were not put at risk. Information about not eating vegetables and not using ground water should have been sent out in 2005,” Dr Gates said.
“And why wasn’t the contamination problem brought to the attention of the NSW Heritage Council while the Plan of Management for the aerodrome was being drawn up in 2005? Council paid extra money for the plan to be rushed through the review process. The retirement home for the aerodrome site was put ahead of potential health risk to people already living on former aerodrome land. In our view this is such a serious matter that Council should be sacked. It is time for Council to be made accountable for its failure to act.”
June 6th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Richard Gates of the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome Committee Incorporated has contacted Ballina.Info in regards to a Northern Star article published this week on the retirement village for the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome.
The newspaper ‘referred to a letter I wrote, but failed to publish it. They selectively reported what I had to say’, Dr Gates said.
“The article left the reader with the impression that I was opposed to the nursing home/hostel when nothing could be further from the truth. I am opposed to it on the Aerodrome site as it is an inappropriate place to put it, but I have no doubt that Evans Head has need of such a facility,” he said.
The letter is shown below.
Dear Editor
I think its becoming clear now why Richmond Valley Council paid extra money to rush through the Plan of Management for the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome back in 2005.
We were told it was to make sure that we didn’t lose the retirement village on the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome because the Federal government had a ‘use by’ date for beds for the site.
But that was clearly a furphy as press reports tell us the Feds are still hanging in there some two years later.
It’s looking more and more as if they wanted the Plan rushed through at ratepayer expense so that the Aerodrome contamination issue wouldn’t overtake the ill-conceived retirement village for the site. Can you imagine the State Heritage Council signing off on a plan for a retirement village on a contaminated site?
By the way, the June 2005 Plan of Management for the site is still not finalised in spite of what Council keeps telling us. Council has a whole bunch of requirements to meet before that’s the case.
The contamination issue impacts on many aspects of the management of the Aerodrome and surrounding lands. In view of the fact Council knew that there was a potential contamination problem back in 2005 and failed to raise this with the NSW Heritage Council at the time the plan was being finalised, and in view of the fact that Council did a sweetheart deal for the sale of the land just as it did with the Casino Aerodrome at ratepayers’ expense, isn’t it time for the whole planning process to be reopened.
There is no doubt that Evans Head needs a nursing home and hostel facility, but not on the Aerodrome. There are alternatives.
And ratepayers who are already under the gun of a 58 per cent rate increase need to ask: Just how much is it really going to cost us if Council has already subsidised the land sale and now has to pay additional money for clean-up for a regional retirement village. How much?
Yours sincerely
Dr Richard Gates
President
The Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome Committee Incorporated