Enough of the asbestos fearmongering, time to work towards solutions.
Camera IconEnough of the asbestos fearmongering, time to work towards solutions. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Stop the fearmongering over asbestos

Sandy Shailes, Gooseberry HillMidland Kalamunda Reporter

OR THE

I AM totally over seeing the asbestos fearmongering in all my news feeds.

Yes, the Ledger Road Reserve was an official and unofficial dumping ground until the late 70s. Some of it was asbestos; not great.

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However, the reality is that this occurred in most bushes and reserves around Perth. We are not unique. Nor is it a new problem.

I remember back in 2006 the whole hillside was a landscape of smashed glass after the shire did a clean up with bulldozers, just before they put down the remedial gravel under the pretence of “rehabilitation”.

I imagine that little bulldozing sent more asbestos fibres into the air than the building of the Optus tower (that started this whole campaign) ever could.

As for the school, yes the oval was built with some of this landfill; not great again. My children have and do play in these areas, so yes I am a little concerned.

Nevertheless, to put it all in perspective, every child has played in their own back yard.

Most fences of the past were built of asbestos and were built, smashed, broken and removed in the days before awareness and subsequent management laws.

Asbestos fibres can be found in most older suburban gardens. Hell, our present house in Gooseberry Hill is even made of asbestos.

We constantly complain about how our parents’ generation dumped asbestos, polluted the environment, caused global warming, created toxic emissions and irresponsibly smoked in the car with us in there.

They taught us that suntans were sexy, overcooked our steak on the barbecue, used naphthalene mothballs, and a whole range of other things of which we are yet to bear the consequences.

Our parents complain that their parents started wars and created the problems of an ageing baby-boom population.

One day our own children will be ranting about the cover-ups and ignorance of their parents.

For example, the things we so blatantly poison others and ourselves with now through ignorance or greed.

The pollution we pump into the atmosphere, the rubbish in the ocean that will never go away.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Surely, we can stop passing blame and start working together towards a viable solution.

Because although health of the community is paramount, at this rate, all the finger pointing and shaming will just result in a beautiful old school being shutdown physically or through declining enrolments and the end of the public nature spaces we love.

SANDY SHAILES,

Gooseberry Hill.