Nationals MLC James Hayward slams DFES for ‘seeking legal advice to justify inaction’ on Albany landslip

A State MP says the Department of Fire and Emergency Services has taken the “extraordinary” step of seeking legal advice to “justify their inaction” on a landslip that has forced the evacuation of homes in Albany. Three houses have now been evacuated on Sleeman Avenue, and residents of three homes on Anzac Road have been advised to leave as the damage becomes more dramatic by the day, despite efforts from the City of Albany and Water Corporation to pump water out of the area. The cause of the landslip is still undetermined, but a history of ground movement in the area, Albany’s heavy winter rainfall and a burst water main on July 30 have all been cited as possible factors. In yesterday’s Albany Advertiser, City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington slammed the response from DFES, questioning whether it was waiting for someone to be killed before declaring the situation an emergency. In response to Mr Wellington’s concerns, a DFES spokesman said on Monday that the department had been in “regular contact” with the City. “Numerous meetings, telephone calls and emails between DFES and the City have been held since the issue was raised with DFES,” the spokesman said on Monday. “As recently as Friday, October 1, the acting deputy commissioner of operations spoke with the City’s chief executive officer to provide advice and seek clarification on the issues being faced by the City. “DFES is part of the incident support group that has been established and will continue to support the City in its response.” Today, Nationals WA South West MLC James Hayward joined Mr Wellington in calling for urgent assistance from the State Government. “Albany has experienced very heavy rainfall this winter, and the land slip in Mira Mar is a slow-moving emergency, homes and lives are at risk,” Mr Hayward said. Mr Hayward said DFES had sought legal advice to support their stance that the situation was not an emergency — a move he believed was “offensive” to the Albany community. “I find it extraordinary that DFES would go so far as to get legal advice to justify their inaction on this matter,” he said. “The City of Albany collected over $3.7 million via the Emergency Services Levy to fund DFES, and now when they need them, DFES is only willing to spend some of those funds to avoid doing their job.” He urged Emergency Minister Reece Whitby to intervene. “The Minister needs to tell DFES to stop focusing on how it can avoid helping, and instead find a way to support the local community in finding a solution to this problem,” he said. “DFES could leverage its significant influence and resources to engage specialists who can suggest solutions. “The geotechnical expertise is available in WA — the mining industry deals with land slip issues all the time. “The argument from DFES that they do not need to help as they paid for legal advice to say this is not an emergency is just offensive.” This afternoon, Acting Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Waters responded to those criticisms and outlined the Department’s role in responding to the landslip. He confirmed that the Department’s legal advice was that the landslip was not classified as an emergency under the Emergency Management Regulations 2006. “DFES’ priority is always to protect the lives of Western Australians, but we are not responsible for remediating defects on private property — that responsibility lies with local government or insurers,” he said. “DFES is responsible for the prescribed hazard of collapse, which is an emergency in which people are trapped. The collapse emergency response is focussed on locating, treating and extricating causalities. “If there was an emergency at Sleeman Avenue, our role would be to respond to any risk of injury or threat to life — we would not assume responsibility for long-term remediation works of private land.” Acting Commissioner Waters said DFES had ensured its staff were familiar with the area in the event of an emergency. DFES urban and rescue engineers had worked with the City on the response to the landslip and supported the recommendations provided to the City by geotechnical consultants. “It is understood that due to instability, all recommendations are yet to be implemented,” he said. “DFES has assisted the City with its establishment and management of an incident management team to deal with this issue, as well as sitting on the incident support group. “DFES is in constant communication with the City to assist them as they work through the challenges of this issue.” He said DFES did not have expertise or capability for “significant geological excavation or reform”. “Local governments do not consult DFES on matters regarding private property issues including the subdivision of land or the building of private property, and whether a nominated site is suitable for development noting any concerns about terrain or gradient,” he said. “The City of Albany approved a subdivision at the bottom of the hill in question in 2013, and the first movement of soil was observed after this work had taken place. “We have engaged with the City extensively to encourage it to explore and identify what action can be undertaken in response to the situation and develop a long-term objective for the area.”