The Hornsby Mayor says his council is committed to improving its procedures after an illegal dump site was able to operate unchecked for more than 12 months.

A report has raised concerns about staff handling of the development at Arcadia, where at least 44,000 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated material was trucked into a proposed equestrian arena.

Despite repeated complaints being lodged about the site over the space of five months, no investigation was launched until Ray Hadley made the situation public.

Proper removal and safe disposal of the material will take up to 18 months and cost between 5 and 10 million dollars.

It’s feared the owners of the site David and Maria Levy will declare bankruptcy, leaving ratepayers or even the NSW Government to foot the bill.

Mayor Philip Ruddock tells Ray he will look to make improvements.

“There needs to be a strengthening of the processes and staff education to reduce risks in relation to compliance issues.

“The reports we’ve had suggest we’ve got to demand a greater level of detail from developers that we’ve got to improve communications, that we’ve got to implement a process to escalate complaints.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview

Click HERE for Ray’s full coverage of the asbestos dump at Arcadia