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Renters with exceptional document retention can now find out if they were Mr Fluffy exposed

asbestos lr

THE Environment and Planning Directorate (EPD) and the Asbestos Response Taskforce have announced a process to allow former tenants and homeowners to find out if a property they once resided in contained loose-fill asbestos and was part of an asbestos removal program.

It is now possible for a former owner or tenant who can prove a connection with an address (ie. through a rates notice, utilities or rental statement, or express permission of current owner etc) to apply to EPD for a response.

This can be done by completing the form that is available from the EPD website.

Completed forms and attachments can be scanned and emailed to esddbuildingcounter@act.gov.au hand delivered to the EPD Customer Service Centre, 8 Darling Street Mitchell which is open from 8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) or posted to EPD – Building Counter, Mitchell Customer Service Centre, PO Box 158 , Canberra ACT 2601.

There is no cost associated with this process.

The EPD asks that before making an enquiry readers consider:

  • Mr Fluffy ceased operating in the ACT between 1978 and 1979
  • Directly asking your previous landlord or real estate agent for advice
  • Finding out more information about the Loose Asbestos Removal Program by visiting the Asbestos website www.asbestos.act.gov.au or the Taskforce at www.act.gov.au/asbestostaskforce

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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4 Responses to Renters with exceptional document retention can now find out if they were Mr Fluffy exposed

androo says: 19 August 2014 at 12:45 pm

I don’t have any of that documentation, but a quick email to my former agent (Luton, Weston Creek) resulted in an email reply saying they had no knowledge or information of Mr Fluffy being in my former rental property, the owners likewise knew of no issues. They also included a PDF stating the dates I rented the property so I could approach the ACT Govt if I wished. Very helpful and worth a shout-out.

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Stanza Matic says: 19 August 2014 at 5:22 pm

I understand the Gubmint has changed the requirements so that a statutory declaration from an ex-tenant will suffice. May be worth checking if this is true?

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Neville O'Shannassy says: 21 August 2014 at 9:33 pm

We are having an ongoing disagreement with ACTPLA to get them to stop a building renovation at the house next door to us in the old part of Macgregor. Long time residents of the street say that the house was covered in a tent early in 1980’s and the Mr Fluffy asbestos was vacuumed out. The new owners have lifted the cement roof tiles and inserted galvanised iron roof sheets under the tiles, leaving the edges of the roof tiles open to the elements. ACTPLA has been to investigate the work and have deemed it unnecessary to have a Development Application even though the new structure affects the street scape. We have complained about the lack of a certificate of occupancy for people who live in the workshop part of a garage. A stop work notice was issued until an inspection could be carried out and has now been lifted. We have gotten advice from architects and registered builders who all agree that the renovation fails to comply with current building codes. Then of course there is the problem of asbestos being blown around the neighbourhood since the new owners lifted the original cement tiles.

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