Town Hall asbestos: a telling example of how LBWF neglected its statutory duties
I am currently collating further material on the Town Hall asbestos scandal, and much of it is very revealing. Here is a brief taste.
As is by now widely known, LBWF first found out about asbestos in the Town Hall in 1984, though it was a subsequent survey of 2002 that filled in many of the details.
In late 2011, LBWF decided to refurbish the Town Hall basement and reception areas, and in advance of this work, used NPS London Ltd. to commission a new asbestos survey, this time by GBNS Ltd.
GBNS Ltd.’s operative begun his work on 19 January 2012 and reported back his findings to LBWF on 1 February 2012.
GBNS Ltd. claims that prior to beginning its work neither LBWF nor NPS London Ltd. gave it a copy of the 2002 survey, and it had to seek one out itself. What kind of impediment this represented is yet to be revealed.
At any rate, when reporting back, our GBNS man had a sudden epiphany:
‘“The second time I saw the 2002 survey was during that meeting on the 1st February. As I was flicking through the 2002 survey I noticed that the picture shown on page 29 for Room 12 was exactly like the one I had taken the previous day, 31st January, in the same room. The pictures shows 4 pipes which had been cut off, most likely with an oxy-acetylene torch, with asbestos lagging on the pipes which has been highly damaged. The asbestos debris can be seen on the small shelf just below the pipes”’.
If the subject weren’t so serious, this would have the makings of a great knock-about comedy…
More – much more – to follow.
