Asbestos removal in Churchill

A town planned on paper

The town was named after Sir Winston Churchill in February 1965, and by 1969 more than 100 homes a year were going up. The plan was eleven neighbourhoods of about 600 homes each, named after pioneer families. Silcock, Medew, McMillan and Glendonald are among them. (Glendonald is Churchill's, by the way. You'll sometimes see it lumped in with Traralgon, but it's one of the original Commission neighbourhoods here.)

The population peaked at about 5,500 in the early 1990s. At the 2021 Census it was 4,924 people in 2,202 dwellings, almost 97 per cent of them detached houses. The tertiary campus that started as the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education in 1972, later Monash Gippsland, is now Federation University.

Asbestos removal Churchill: brick outside, so what's inside?

"Constructed entirely in brick" describes the walls. It doesn't describe the rest of the house. Judging by the era, brick homes of the 1960s to 80s commonly used asbestos cement in a handful of places, and Churchill's houses were built right through those years. Nobody has surveyed Churchill street by street, but these are the places to look:

• Eaves linings. Flat sheets under the roof overhang, often painted to match the trim.
• Wet areas. The sheet behind the bathroom and laundry tiles, and sometimes the laundry ceiling.
• Floors. Old vinyl sheet with a backing layer, which the same fact sheet says can be friable.
• The switchboard. The council's fact sheet names the lining of old electrical switchboards as one of the friable exceptions, so leave it closed and mention it when you ask for a quote.
• Outbuildings and fences. A garage, a carport, a back shed with a corrugated roof, a side fence.

Latrobe City's homeowner fact sheet says a home built before 1990 probably contains asbestos. Most of Churchill fits that. A test is the only way to be sure about a particular sheet; see testing and inspection.

If you rent in Churchill

About 29.5 per cent of Churchill homes are rented, a higher share than Traralgon. So a lot of the people who notice a cracked fence panel or a broken eave can't book the removal themselves.

If that's you, don't drill, sand, cut or pull at it. Take photos, tell the landlord or agent in writing, and keep a copy. Who pays and who arranges the removal is a question for Consumer Affairs Victoria. If a shed or fence on a residential property is deteriorating and nothing is happening, Latrobe City's who-does-what guide says that's a matter for the council, on 1300 367 700.

After the 2009 fire

The Black Saturday fire that burned through Jeeralang North, Koornalla, Callignee, Hazelwood and Traralgon South on 7 February 2009 was deliberately lit on Glendonald Road, Churchill. Much of the damage was in the hills and acreage beyond the town. If you're on that side and still have burnt sheet around an old shed site, read the Traralgon South and Callignee page and the fire damage page.

Photographing a brick house so the job is clear

On a Churchill house the brick tells a removalist nothing, so point the camera at everything that isn't brick. Stand under the eaves and shoot straight up at the lining, including a joining strip. Take the garage or carport roof from the yard, and any corrugated shed roof from the ground, not a ladder. Inside, a wide shot of the laundry or bathroom wall is enough, plus a close-up of any spot where a tile has lifted. If you rent, say that the house is tenanted when you register.

Add the neighbourhood if you know it, whether that's Glendonald, Silcock, Medew, McMillan or another of the original eleven, and roughly when the house was built or extended. Then we register your job and, if you ask us to, tell you when a licensed removalist covers your town; nobody rings you from this site in the meantime. The steps after that, from the written quote to the clearance certificate, are set out once on the services page, and the published 2026 price ranges are on the cost guide.

Your own small load

Churchill is in Latrobe City, so a resident's own small load can go to the Hyland Highway Landfill by appointment, on the terms set out on the disposal page. Council also sells a home removal kit for $69 at its Morwell headquarters; GARDS lists plastic sheeting, printed asbestos bags, two sets of disposable coveralls, two P2 respirators, gloves, tape and a spray bottle among the contents.

GARDS, the Latrobe Valley asbestos support group, says it doesn't encourage anyone to do their own removal at home, and the state's homeowner guidance says removal is best done by a licensed removalist.

Register your job