Families warned of possible asbestos find on Melbourne school oval

Asbestos is feared to have been found on a freshly redeveloped school oval in Melbourne’s outer east after state railway corporation VicTrack used the site as a temporary car park.

An oval at Upwey High and Upwey Primary School was used as a construction site and spillover public car park for months last year while VicTrack built a multi-deck car park at nearby Belgrave station.

The oval has just been rebuilt but remains under VicTrack’s control and is out of bounds until further notice, assistant principal Debbie Martine told families on Tuesday night.

“As you might recall, the oval was re-built to facilitate the construction of an overflow carpark during delivery of the new multi-level car park at Belgrave Station,” Martine said in a note to families.

“We have now been informed that potential asbestos-containing debris and other materials have recently been discovered on the oval.”

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Martine said access to the oval would continue to be restricted, with a licensed occupational hygienist attending the site to test the materials. “As a precaution, we have chosen to keep affected areas fenced off from students while further testing is undertaken,” she wrote.

The car park at nearby Belgrave train station opened to commuters in December, but the school oval had not yet been returned to the government school.

The 640-space car park is part of the Allan government’s Car Parks for Commuters program, which involves building 11,000 new spaces, and was VicTrack’s biggest construction project to date, the authority said.