Golden Bay resident says dust from nearby development left her sick and depressed

A GOLDEN Bay resident said she felt sick and depressed from excessive dust and sand entering her home from an adjacent development.

Bree Zikmundovsky lives behind Peet’s Golden Bay Estate and said earthworks caused debris to be blown on to and inside her home.

Electrical appliances were affected causing them to work overtime, including her pool pump, airconditioner and vacuum cleaner.

She feared they would need replacing.

Mrs Zikmundovski said she was frustrated that the issue had not been resolved, despite her complaining to the developer six weeks ago.

“My home is continually dirty and I have to clean it everyday – I don’t have time to do that,” she said.

“After lodging a complaint it has just been back and forth with emails and I feel really stressed by it.”

She was also dismayed after declining an offer to sweep her deck, the developer seemed unwilling to help further.

“They said their estate was not to blame for the dust, rather new homes being built behind my home,” she said.

In an email to Mrs Zikmundovsky, a Peet spokeswoman said the company was confident any dust effecting her property had not come from their development site.

“You were offered assistance as a gesture of goodwill and ultimately declined,” the email said.

After Mrs Zikmundovsky contacted the Courier, a Peet representative inspected Mrs Zikmundovsky’s home on Monday .

“All the work being done by Peet at Golden Bay is done with all the appropriate approvals and, when necessary, plan to manage the inevitable short-term impacts on neighbours as a result of construction matters,” a Peet spokeswoman said.

“At Golden Bay, we have done a number of different things to limit dust resulting from our own construction activities (including the use of water carts, hydromulching, additional dust suppression agents and wind fencing) but of course we can’t control dust from any other sources.

“We’ve heard from one resident who is concerned about the dust impacts of construction activities in the area and we have done a number of things already including trying to establish exactly where the dust is coming from; increasing our own dust mitigation measures; and setting up a meeting with her to get an even better picture of what she is experiencing.”

Rockingham mayor Barry Sammels said the developer was responsible for maintaining their site during development.

“The City (of Rockingham) grants a conditional approval covering subdivisional development and includes the responsibilities attached to dust controls,” he said.

He said the City regularly inspected the site to ensure the developer’s civil contractor was fulfilling its responsibilities.

“Despite these control measures it is always difficult to manage sites which are in close proximity to the coast and inevitably comprise very water-hungry sandy soils and are prone to high velocity prevailing winds,” he said.

He said the City had received a complaint from another resident about the estate.

“The City has received one similar complaint which was responded to quickly by ensuring the developer was complying with the Dust Management Plan and adhering to the proposed strategy. Follow-up is ongoing,” he said.

On Monday, Peet offered to clean Mrs Zikmundovky’s home.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said excessive dust could cause health issues.

He said more information was available on its website http://healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/Health-effects-of-dust.

“Estate developers are encouraged to implement a dust management plan in consideration of nearby residents, however the plans are not mandatory. Local Governments take responsibility for regulating environmental nuisances. Residents should raise their concerns with the local government authority,” he said.

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