Business owners at the Melbourne Innovation Centre (MIC) in Alphington, in the city’s inner north, have been told that their businesses are a no-go zone less than a fortnight from Christmas after a suspected asbestos exposure closed the precinct.
Thirty-eight businesses are operating in the centre, which functions as a charity business incubator, where small businesses can access cut-price working space and warehousing. Tenants reportedly know that the site contained historical asbestos in the walls and roof.
The centre operates as the landlord at the site, and has conducted regular air quality testing on behalf of the Darebin council, which owns the physical land.
According to the centre’s chief executive, those tests had “always [returned] results at safe levels.”
In November, several businesses at the site were told that they would need to vacate for asbestos testing in their spaces, and they expected to be able to return a few days later. More than three weeks after the initial testing, as many as 14 businesses are unable to access their work space and associated assets.
In a meeting in late November, tenants were told that asbestos dust was detected at the site in 2020 and were deemed “medium risk”, and they were also told to seek medical advice. Devastatingly for businesses, items that were unable to be cleaned would be sent to landfill.
A statement released by Darebin Council this week said that as the site’s owner, it will be “obliged to ensure the site is free of harm to human health before the site is reopened to the public.”
They also noted that an independent asbestos assessor has been “engaged to determine the extent of any potential removal works required on-site”.
A spokesman from Victoria’s safety regulator, WorkSafe, explained that they had visited the site and “will continue to monitor to ensure duty holders are complying with occupational health and safety obligations”.