Today’s major news is all about inflammable cladding and the cowboys who have made a killing in the construction industry. It also points to the utter failure of regulation from the Victorian Building Authority, to State Governments and councils.
In March this year, council’s CEO released the following statement:
Our questions are pretty basic:
- Why wasn’t council’s ‘building surveyor’ on the job when the redevelopment was happening? Did he/she sign off as everything being okay back then?
- What oversight did council insist on with its redevelopment?
- How much will it cost ratepayers to remedy the situation?
- How long will it take?
Adding further fuel to the fire we now learn that there are at least 60 developments in Glen Eira that have suspect cladding. Here’s a map produced by the Victorian Building Authority. See: https://www.vba.vic.gov.au/cladding
Our sympathies go out to all those residents who find themselves living in one of these high rise potential death traps! Now wonder residents can have no faith in governments of all shades and certainly not councils.
Glen Eira Debates 
July 16, 2019 at 5:29 PM
Private developments are one thing. This is council run and should have had stacks better oversight for the library. Yes I want to know who signed off and if they’ve still got a job.
July 17, 2019 at 9:06 AM
Like the gfc noone will end up behind bars.
July 17, 2019 at 1:31 PM
FYI
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/dodgy-builders-could-be-immune-to-prosecution-in-cladding-crisis-20190717-p527zx.html
July 17, 2019 at 9:49 AM
We all saw this coming, We need a Royal Commission into the deregulation of the building industry, and while we are there a IBAC look at corruption into in the building departments of Councils. With all these millions of dollars washing around the place, it’s not beyond imagination some officers have been compromised.
July 17, 2019 at 5:08 PM
The developers are immune from any legal responsibility, they are protected by corporate law which has been designed by themselves to protect their profits. Their system is designed to waste anyone stupid enough to assault their ivory towers.
The Andrews Government will put on a macho face of bringing the system into line and making the crims pay for this debacle. The truth is they have no interest in tackling these problems, all they want is more and more development and any cost.
Corporate politics is a very very sick game, where people equal nought and profits are god. This corporate extremism is consuming the world resources and delivering us mass social alienation, pluminting living standards for the masses, with the worst to come climate change.
The CEO Statement and the unnecessary closing of the Carnegie Library is just another corporate game of jockeying for position and compensation as well as blame shifting. They would have known about this flammable cladding for a few years now, so why chose to close the Library now?
July 18, 2019 at 3:21 PM
Maybe the “FAWLTY LIBRARY TOWER” could be clad with the metal roofing material on Shepparson Ave. which seems to be useless.
Isn’t it interesting to note that at this time the wrecker’s ball is demolishing the near 100 year old former McKees solid brick warehouse nearby which council bought for us about three years ago.