Northern Territory Police have been asked to investigate defective homes built in Darwin over the risk of panels becoming flying debris during high winds or a cyclone.
Police have been asked to investigate the safety risk posed by defective homes built in the Darwin suburb of Bellamack that have been deemed a serious risk to occupants and neighbours.
Labor MLA Mark Turner has referred the matter to police, saying he believes the infrastructure department’s failure to inform neighbours about the risks could present a prima facie case of criminal negligence.
“Bellamack is full of young children, people going about their lives and they shouldn’t have to be doing it worrying about whether the roof’s going to fly off a substandard building,” Mr Turner said.
Engineers’ reports commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics in 2021 show the homes present a serious risk “in the event of a high wind event, such as a during a cyclone, thunderstorm downburst or tornado”.
“The nature of the potential failure of the house structure is that the TBS (Titan Building System) panels become airborne debris, endangering the surrounding community and houses,” a report by engineering consultant Acer Forester given to the department last January says.
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“It is the view of (the structural engineer) that the non-compliance of the construction and severe corrosion of structural members presents a risk of serious injury to those that may be affected in such an event.
“It is the professional opinion of the authors that the house structurally presents a safety risk of serious injury to the occupants and the community, and that consideration is given to the demolition of the house without undue delay.”
On April 13 last year – three months after it received the report – the department issued a statement saying it had found there was no immediate safety risk.
In the statement, Director of Building Control Mark Meldrum said although there was no immediate need to find alternative accommodation, there may be a safety risk to occupants during a cyclone event.
“There is no immediate threat to safety, and the Northern Territory Government continues to work with these homeowners to make sure they are aware of the potential structural issues associated with their properties,” Mr Meldrum said.
The statement made no mention of the danger posed by a thunderstorm or the risk to neighbours.
Neighbours last week told Sky News they had never been informed of the risk the houses posed.
Mr Turner, who was expelled from the Labor caucus last year but remains a party member, said the community should have been informed of the danger.
“The best case on the information I’ve been provided is it’s negligent or reckless not to let our community know that and not to rectify that. We’ve got to look after our people,” he said.
Nine of the homes have been demolished, but the other houses remain occupied while their owners fight for compensation.
“You’ve got people living next to these houses who thought they were safe, their kids are playing out in the back garden, as far as they are aware everything is OK, but quite clearly the engineers who have done the report don’t agree,” Mr Turner said.
George Milatos, whose company built the houses, has denied any wrongdoing and called for an independent inquiry into the matter.
Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler did not directly answer questions about why people were still living in the homes and why neighbours had not been informed of the risk.
“Buying a home is one of the single largest investments a person will make in their life,” Ms Lawler said in a statement.
“We are undertaking significant building reforms in the Territory such as continuous professional development of building practitioners, increased penalties for misconduct by building practitioners, extending the time the building practitioner board can investigate a builder’s work after their registration has ceased from three to seven years, and other reforms in relation to commercial builders and complex buildings.”
Mr Turner said the issue needed urgent action.
“The damage could be catastrophic and then we’ll be dealing with this in the Coroner’s Court,” he said.
“It’s ridiculous. Let’s deal with it before it’s a problem, not afterwards.”
Police did not respond to questions before the deadline.
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