Action plan for abandoned mine site

Monday, 17 January 2011 00:00

Media Releases - Kevin Anderson Media Release

A NSW Liberals & Nationals Government would launch an urgent investigation into the Woodsreef asbestos mine site at Barraba, NSW Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner said last week in Tamworth.

Describing the former mine site as an ''eyesore'' and ''health risk'', Mr Stoner said a report on the matter would be tabled to parliament within the Liberals & Nationals first year in office.

''It demands urgent action and we're committed to that,'' Mr Stoner said.

In November last year, the NSW Ombudsman described Woodsreef as an ''environmental disaster'' when he tabled a report to Parliament entitled 'Responding to the asbestos problem: The need for significant reform in NSW '.

The report details the Ombudsman's concerns about public safety and the way asbestos is dealt with in NSW while specifically highlighting the inaction on the Barraba site which was abandoned in the 1980s. It recommended that the Labor Goverment spend $5.5 million to rehabilitate the Woodsreef site and make it safe urgently.

Mr Stoner confirmed the Woodsreef commitment while in Tamworth with NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell and Nationals candidate for Tamworth Kevin Anderson. Mr O'Farrell announced earlier in the day that a NSW Liberals & Nationals Government will contribute $2 million towards the upgrade of Manilla Road.

The Nationals candidate for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said Mr Stoner's commitment to action at Woodsreef showed The Nationals and NSW Liberals understood the community's feelings on the issue.

''The residents of Barraba have fought long and hard for action on the mine site. Now they know that a Liberals & National government won't waste time in starting to fix the problem,'' he said.

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