ALMOST half of the Fremantle Sailing Club’s board of management has resigned over concerns about how the club has handled an asbestos contamination.
The issue goes back to Anzac Day when a digger operator hired by FSC moved some debris from the Kalbarri groyne at the club and unearthed asbestos, which the Herald has been told had been used as fill, back in the 1970s.
Although club management roped off the end of the groyne and erected a warning sign, some members complained they hadn’t been told and were concerned they may have been exposed to dangerous fibres before they found out.
Some reportedly moved their boats as a result.
The club is also planning to install solar panels on one of its roofs, which contains asbestos, causing more concern from some members about how it was going to be managed.
Misleading
The Herald has been told it culminated in the resignation of about half the board and a petition of more than 50 signatures calling for a special general meeting to dismiss the remaining members.
Club general manager David McClelland said while there was sufficient signatures to spark the special meeting, he’d knocked back the request because some of the proposed motions “were not logical under the constitution”.
The petition also called for various documents to be forwarded to the club’s members prior to the meeting, but Mr McClelland said after being run past lawyers they were deemed to be misleading.
Club commodore Bill Burbidge wouldn’t discuss the issue with the Herald, but in a letter sent to members last month he said the club couldn’t be party to circulating misleading material.
“The matter was destabilising for the club, however it was dealt with decisively and the board of management is now working harmoniously in furthering the aims of the club,” Cdr Burbidge wrote.
A club member who didn’t want to be named told the Herald there was also some concern amongst some members that the club was becoming a bit stale and some younger faces were needed on the board.
The member said cutbacks had led to the club’s junior coach resigning.
by STEVE GRANT
Mostly incorrect, the resignations were way before the 2 pieces of white asbestos Water Corporation water pipe were revealed to be in recently dumped waste, and the coach, Arthur Brett, is now Director of Coaching, a role that was planned, essentially at the time of his appointment, to mentor young coaches, as he wishes to maintain a strong relationship with Fremantle Sailing Club.