NORTHERN Grampians Shire Council has assured Stawell residents that community safety is its top priority after workers uncovered an unknown pipe in the town’s main street.
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A community member contacted the Stawell Times-News concerned the pipe – located as part of the ongoing streetscape works in Main Street – could be contaminated with asbestos.
Northern Grampians Shire Council chief executive Michael Bailey said extensive works at the upper end of Main Street led workers to finding the previously unmarked pipe this week.
“Over the years there has been a lot of infrastructure to pipes along the Main Street strip which isn’t marked properly or isn’t marked at all,” he said.
Mr Bailey said workers had followed protocols to contain and mark the pipe until it could be tested.
“The pipe has been contained at the moment. It has been marked as contaminated and a registered removalist will come in on Monday and pull it out,” he said.
Mr Bailey said the specialist team would test the pipe once it was removed from the area.
He said public safety was council’s number one priority, and assured residents there was no cause for alarm.
“We don’t want any risk to the workers or community,” he said.
“Every infrastructure project has processes in place for situations like this.”
Mr Bailey said there had been a need for extra excavation work at the upper end of Main Street due to its condition.
“Workers have done more excavation work because the road underneath isn’t in the condition we wanted it to be in,” he said.
“This will ensure the longevity of the infrastructure.”