Bathurst Regional Council has been "assertive" in its correspondence with Jemena in an attempt to resolve issues with the former Bathurst Gasworks site.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Deputy mayor Bobby Bourke has continued his fight to see the site addressed and on Wednesday night said he will now be demanding updates weekly on the matter.
"I've been bringing this up for at least 15 years and we're still at the same spot where we are here now," he said.
"There's other information that's come from different people in those 15 years; it just goes to bed somewhere."
He said that Jemena, who leases the site, Crown Lands and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) all want nothing to do with the site, but one, if not more, of them had to step up as the area continues to pose a danger to the community.
There are not only concerns over the security fence, which was breached again recently, but the presence of asbestos and other toxins at the site.
"I want Jemena to be up front with us, the EPA, because I don't think they've been up front enough with information of how toxic that site is," Cr Bourke said.
"You only have to walk around the perimeter of the fences, you can see that the ground is yellow; a couple of other councillors have been there with me and seen it."
Council's director of Environmental Planning and Building Services, Neil Southorn, provided an update on the situation to Cr Bourke.
He contacted Jemena a few weeks ago and finally received advice from Jemena's assets group on Monday, informing him that repairs have been made to the first of the two perimeter fences.
READ ALSO: $160,000 fence to make gasworks secure
"They have increased the patrols by their security firm and they'll be visiting the site again soon to go through the other matters that were raised by council, quite assertively, over a succession of exchanges of correspondence," Mr Southorn said.
"We are treating Jemena the same as we would any other occupiers of land, which does extend to the right to issue orders to make a site safe because of the public health risks that may be apparent.
"We are not at that point yet because we did get a positive response from the occupier."
Regarding the issue of asbestos and other potential toxins, Mr Southorn said council has offered Jemena the use of its drone to help the energy provider address the concerns.
"We have offered the services of council's drone to enable an up-close inspection of all of the site without needing human intervention," he said.
Mr Southorn promised to keep councillors informed and said an email to them was drafted on Tuesday.