The Bathla Group, a major property developer, received more than 300 safety notices from SafeWork NSW in the five years preceding its collapse. Data from the workplace health and safety regulator indicates that 306 warnings, including improvement, prohibition, and penalty notices, were issued to the group and its subsidiaries since January 2021. Fifty-nine of these notices were recorded within the last 18 months.
A spokesperson for SafeWork NSW stated that the most frequent safety concerns involved falls from heights, electrical hazards, construction site security, general workplace management, and falling objects. The developer previously faced a $135,000 fine in 2018 following an incident in Doonside where a surveyor’s assistant was seriously injured after falling four metres.
The Bathla Group and its 542 associated entities entered voluntary administration on August 25. Following this, the state’s building regulator issued orders for the company to rectify serious defects at an apartment complex in Seven Hills and an under-construction site in Kembla Grange. Administrator Teneo recently stood down 213 staff members and halted construction on numerous projects.
Financial records presented at the first creditors’ meeting revealed that the company holds debts totaling approximately $3.4 billion, including $3.08 billion owed to lenders, $145 million to the Australian Taxation Office, $130 million to unsecured creditors, $42 million in land tax, and $4 million in employee entitlements.
On Friday, the NSW Supreme Court granted the company a 12-month extension to finalize construction projects, contingent upon the administrator securing necessary funding from lenders. Teneo representative Stephen Longely noted that securing this capital remains an immediate priority. According to CreditorWatch, construction insolvencies rose by 179 per cent between July and August, a trend attributed in part to the collapse of the Bathla Group.
Article source: www.theage.com.au | Image credit: www.theage.com.au