Five months have passed since Bega Valley Shire Council (BVSC) received a letter of demand from Eden residents aftected by an incident with lime dust from roadworks, and a reply - of sorts - has now been received.
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Council's insurer has written to representatives of the residents affected, to notify them the company had completed inquiries in to circumstances that took place when the roadworks were carried out on June 10-12, 2020.
The insurers stated it was not disputed that BVSC supervised the roadworks, but because council didn't source, mix or install the lime, actions that were conducted by subcontractor Stabilco, they do not consider council was liable for the damage to properties.
Councillor Robyn Bain said BVSC was the main contractor and it was "ridiculous" it was not taking responsibility for the matter.
She also took issue that it had taken so long to respond, with over half a million dollars' worth of damage caused to ratepayers properties and cars.
'It didn't happen once, it happened over the course of three days, it's nonsense to say it's not their responsibility," she said.
"They should know, given the amount of roads they have resurfaced, that the reaction when the water was added to the lime was highly unusual.
"Quite obviously they are hoping people will give up and it will all go away, which it won't.
"What is frustrating for residents is that the whole reason you have public liability insurance is because accidents happen, but in this case, neither insurer wants to bear the responsibility," Cr Bain said.
A tradesperson herself, affected resident Sylvia Anderson said Stabilco, as a tier one contractor - should have presented a Job Safety Analysis to council before being put on the job.
"Council were running the job that day and have to abide by a safety management plan. They were there supervising and kept allowing it to happen," Ms Anderson said.
"Why wasn't the job shut down when it first happened?
"People were complaining about burning eyes... where are the incident reports? They are shunning their responsibilities," Ms Anderson said.
The group has now sent a letter of demand to subcontractor Stabilco and said after that it may come down to a class action, which was ready to go with solicitors.
Residents will meet to discuss the matter again next Tuesday, May 4.
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