Frank Penhalluriack achieved a remarkable victory at council meeting this evening. The mulch heap at Glen Huntly Park will be closed down and removed because of the fear of potential health risks. Penhalluriack’s motion to close the facility was supported by Forge, Pilling, Lobo, Magee, Hyams, Esakoff and opposed by Tang and Lipshutz. The discussion went as follows:

Penhalluriack: Stated that there had been a lot of discussion amongst councillors but ‘on the evidence I have seen and researched this mulch….is a dangerous thing….can though fungi and bacteria…..cause legionella disease’. Penhalluriack said that he recognised that there had not been any deaths reported in the area that could be associated with mulch. ‘Research would indicate that deaths come more from woodchips’ when people get legionella. Stated that council organised ‘through the audit committee’ an extra opinion to look at the issue and their reports said ‘exposure to shredded mulch can carry a risk of exposure to various fungi, yeast and moulds and bacteria, including legionella’. ‘Is it worth anybody dying?’ ‘while the risk may be relatively small the risk is definitely there’. Elderly are especially susceptible ….’The third page….was unfortunately missed from the agenda and has been replaced tonight, but only in the black and white version’. The colour version shows ‘quite clearly what is not shown in the black and white verion’ – ie. the dust cloud that is created by the bulldozer pushing the mulch around. ‘It’s those very fine particles’ which carry the disease according to scientific tests to ‘at least 200 metres’. Within 20 metres of this mulch heap ‘we have a playground’, barbecue and school. ‘It’s not worth the risk. I know this is a great convenience to consumers…but the second photograph’ shows the mulch sitting way outside the container. ‘the recommendation from the expert is that it should not be outside’. There should be warning signs to the public to wear masks and gloves and wash your hands after handling. Said that the notice had been put out, and held up the sheet with the expert’s opinion, then said that he’s highlighted the legionella risk ‘but for some reason on the notice inside….those words have been missed. Those words are the most crucial’. It’s a risk that shouldn’t be taken by Council.

FORGE: outlined her experience as a physiotherapist where she had dealt with many people who had thoracic diseases such as emphysema, asthma, bronchitis ‘which may take up to thirty years to develop’. We shouldn’t subject any man, woman or child to further pollutants in the air given the evidence. ‘We have to take the much bigger picture and not just the possibility of legionaires’…’we have to take this seriously as well’.

LIPSHUTZ: ‘this is scaremongering….there are other ways …it’s true to say that the audit committee obtained a report…the issue here is how far do we go? ‘There are always risks in everything we do….we have a government report which says there is nothing wrong with this…and in fact that it is okay….Penhalluriack has got other data’. The consultant’s report ‘nowhere does it say we should close’ down. That’s not an issue – ‘i don’t want to have any danger to children or adults….we can take things to the nth degree…..’there is no clear indication of danger’…’ knee jerk reaction’….’let’s do testing, let’s see and if that at the end demonstrates that things are incorrect, close it’

TANG: stated that he’d had many conversations with Penhalluriack about this. ‘my issue with this suggests that it is a knee jerk reaction…it’s like a nanny state’. Used the analogy of car crashes that instead of implementing traffic lights, seat belt, we stop people driving. Penhalluriack ‘agitated’ for the report and after reading it, Tang agrees that ‘we certainly need to take steps to mitigate against these risks’…’I’m not debating the fact that there is a risk of legionella’. Read other sections of the report which said that the air testing results were not elevated when compared to surrounding areas….’you’re quite right to be concerned about risks and here we have some suggestions about how…so the conclusion I came to from reading the report …council should implement every one of the recommendations…council should close the facility until such time that every recommendation in the report is fully implemented and people should be fully aware of what the risks are…..and the signage should be larger’. Said that there was some concern about wind conditions when the tests were conducted, so suggests ‘that the site be tested at least once a month for six months immediately after you reopen’

PILLING: the mulch facility is a service to the community but the placement is wrong ‘wedged between a playground and a secondary school’ ‘I think it should be moved’. ‘The children’s playground was there first and we introduced this mulch heap, it was probably a poor decision then’. He hoped that a better site could be found in the future away from playgrounds and schools.

HYAMS: argued against Tang’s analogy with cars since everyone knows about the dangers and the need to wear seatbelts, but this isn’t the case with mulch and its dangers. Went on to state that he had no idea that diseases could be associated with mulch and that ‘a lot of people wouldn’t know that’. Warning signs aren’t enough – we have warning signs for everything and people still ignore them. ‘I don’t like the idea of a nanny state, but sometimes you need to protect people from themselves…in this case I think we’ve got to err on the side of caution’.

MAGEE: spoke about the timber industry and spoke about green and wet timber. ‘I cannot go to a green saw anywhere in Victoria without’ masks. Related that he is an asthmatic, and that the highest number of deaths of people working in the timber industry was in people working in green sawmills. ‘The only common denominator is dealing with wet timber’….the bacteria stays on the outside of the bark …’I think there is a very big link between wet timber and asthma’

ESAKOFF: ‘I too was sitting on the fence here’ but decided if ‘there is a minute risk’ and even though ‘I don’t like a nanny state’ but given it’s location near a playground caution is warranted.

PENHALLURIACK: stated that he thought that the installation that Council currently has is contrary to the Australian Standards. Further the mulch that council has is ‘not pasteurised’ and the Standards Australia says that commercial installations should produce only ‘pasteurised mulch’. Said that he wouldn’t like the state authorities to come and have a look at the mulch facilities and find that they are not up to the standards.

Motion was carried 7 to 2.

CONCLUSION:

  • The central issue of WHY THE AUDIT COMMITTEE DID NOTHING has not been addressed
  • Tang’s declaration that he agrees that ‘you’re quite right to be concerned about risk’ is another black mark against the Audit Committee for not passing this information (report) onto the rest of the councillors. He admits that he only got to read it after Penhalluriack’s urging.
  • One of the rare times that administration has been publically criticised in their lousy decision to place this mulch heap near a playground
  • Newton has not answered the questions as to why the report lay on his desk for at least 12 days before being tabled at the audit committee and the need for various versions?
  • Why is the word ‘legionella’ not included in warning signs as recommended?
  • Why did Lipshutz, a lawyer on the audit committee, not insist that the report go to council?
  • This issue is far from resolved. What Glen Eira Debates can claim is that we have at least forced Newton to produce the full text of Penhalluriack’s memo to the Audit Committee. We doubt very much if it would have been included in tonight’s agenda items unless we had not analysed and made a fuss about this selective editing!!!!