Maitland City Council has met with representatives from the NSW Government on site at the Walka Water Works to examine the historic chimney’s stability and safety and discuss the next steps for the site.
The Council says the meeting has resulted in an agreement to extend the exclusion zone currently in place to mitigate the impact of a potential chimney failure while additional funding is being sought.
Council has committed $100,000 to validate previous design works and develop a tender package for release once the works are fully funded, and funding opportunities are being explored to deliver works to stabilise the historically important structure in addition to addressing the asbestos contamination at the site.
Council General Manager, Jeff Smith says, “the wellbeing and safety of our community is the highest priority.”
“By working with the NSW Government, it has been identified that out of an abundance of caution, urgent action needs to be taken to extend the exclusion zone around the chimney stack, to mitigate any risk associated with it failing,” said Mr Smith.
The Council says user groups have been contacted, and alternative access will be provided via the closed entry off Scobies Lane with signage to be installed on site for the relevant groups.
The exclusion zone will be formed using a 45m radius from the chimney and additional fencing will be installed from Monday 23 March to clearly delineate the exclusion zone.
