Flat Bush is the newest part of Auckland, comprising all of the land east of East Tamaki/Otara.

Asbestos was cleverly buried there during the 1970s, when the land was bare wetland. Since the 1990s, development of the region has been full-steam ahead, with somewhere around 1000 dwellings presently being built, and thousands more to come. To give an idea of the scope and speed of change, Mission Heights Primary only opened seven years ago. At that time, there were 180 pupils. Today, there are over 700, and another brand new school has been built only 1 km away to cope with the influx. Flat Bush would rate in the top couple of Auckland suburbs for density, with very small sections, and multiple terraced houses and apartment blocks.

This sight met us as we drove home yesterday:

 

As you can see, these guys are dressed for the occasion, which is sensible, with asbestos being one of the most toxic substances known to mankind.

I know they were checking for asbestos because the owner of the company developing the land told me that.

Auckland City Council apparently has a policy of insisting on checks in Flat Bush.

I'm trying to talk to the council to confirm this, as well as asking why and will update when I find out. It seems to me that if asbestos is in the ground, it can only be there through having been buried in the past, so why the hell does the council have no idea where the stuff actually is? If there's no danger and the council is just indulging in make-work, that's fine by me. Len Clown spent $30 mio building a white elephant canoe course in Manukau, and at least asbestos searches are employing people.

If there is a danger, should not local residents be advised? I know they haven't been, because we are local residents and nobody has left us any fliers about it.

More to come...

 

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