Dozens of prominent Sydney buildings have been identified as having combustible cladding, with some requiring full cladding removal.
Documents released to Greens MP David Shoebridge under the Government Information (Public Access) Act (GIPA) have revealed there are 11 buildings which will require full cladding replacement and a further 31 that will require partial cladding replacement, according to Sydney Morning Herald.
The documents reveal a register of hundreds of ‘at-risk’ buildings which have never been assessed due to disagreements over who should be responsible for these assessments and how they should be undertaken.
“This is failed regulation by a government that refuses to take meaningful action,” says Shoebridge.
“They have just handed the whole mess to local councils without providing any new resources or powers to fix it.
“In the City of Sydney alone, there is a list of more than 340 properties that are at potential risk from flammable cladding – but the Coalition Government is doing nothing about it. A number of these buildings are prominent public buildings including childcare centres, student housing, shopping centres and sporting facilities – this goes well beyond private apartments and the public safety risk is obvious.
“Councils are in an impossible position of being given lists with dozens or hundreds of at-risk properties, with no details about the nature of the risk and no resources to undertake the analysis themselves. We need to immediately revisit the regulations and either require owners to properly assess and address the risk or give councils fresh powers and resources to do it for them.”
At this point it has not been revealed which buildings will require full cladding replacement, however it has been specified that some of the buildings requiring partial replacement include:
- The Star Casino
- The ABC’s Ultimo Centre headquarters
- Building 130 at The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS)
- The Pullman Hotel at Hyde Park
A significant number of ‘at-risk’ buildings have been identified at the University of Sydney’s Camperdown campus, including:
- University of Sydney Business School
- University of Sydney Abercrombie Student Housing
- University of Sydney Codrington Building
- University of Sydney Eastern Avenue Auditorium Complex
- University of Sydney Boundary Lane Children’s Centre
- University of Sydney Oval 2 Grandstand
- University of Sydney Sydney Nanoscience Hub
- University of Sydney Brain and Mind Centre
- University of Sydney Social Sciences Building
- University of Sydney Administration Building
- University of Sydney Gordon Yu-Hoi Chiu Building
- University of Sydney Noel Martin Sports & Aquatic Centre
- University of Sydney Jane Foss Russell Building
- University of Sydney Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences Building
- University of Sydney Holme Building
- University of Sydney New Law Annex
- University of Sydney New Law Building
- University of Sydney Charles Perkins Center
Other at-risk Sydney buildings include:
- Central Park Shopping Centre / Apartment Tower
- Central Park Development including East Tower, Park Lane, 9 Kensington Street and 15 Kensington Street
- Macquarie Bank Building, Barangaroo (1 Shelley Street)
- 201 Elizabeth Street
- Victoria Tower (197 -199 Castlereagh Street)
- Golden Century Restaurant (393 Sussex Street)
- Queen Victoria Building
- The Galeries
- The Strand
- The Castlereagh (209 Castlereagh St)
Pictured: Sydney's Queen Victoria Building. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons