Queanbeyan Council offers Mr Fluffy asbestos checks for prospective homebuyers
Homebuyers in Queanbeyan will be able to check whether or not a local property is potentially contaminated with Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos, according to the Queanbeyan Council.
The New South Wales Government is looking at laws to force vendors to tell buyers if their house had loose-fill asbestos insulation installed in the roof.
The mandatory disclosure rule would be part of a suite of measures designed to deal with the toxic Mr Fluffy legacy in NSW, including a buyback and demolition scheme similar to the ACT's program.
But Queanbeyan Mayor Tim Overall has beaten the state legislators by allowing prospective buyers to call the council directly for information.
It means people can check if a house had been previously listed on the council's register of asbestos-affected properties.
Breathing in tiny loose-fill asbestos fibres could lead to the lung cancer Mesothelioma.
More than 1,000 home owners in the Queanbeyan area have requested a free assessment to determine if asbestos insulation was installed by the Canberra-based Mr Fluffy company.
Additional asbestos assessors have been appointed to cope with the high demand for checks after problems were found in ACT houses with loose-fill asbestos.
Despite a clean-up program in Canberra in the 1980s and 1990s, remnant fibres have been found in some living areas and wardrobes, forcing the residents to move out.
