Boy seriously injured by falling shutter at Leichhardt Italian Forum markets, future events cancelled due to safety concerns

By ERIN MODARO

A young boy attending Christmas markets at the Italian forum in Leichhardt was seriously injured when a window shutter fell and hit him on November 20. The shutter was ripped from a residential building above the markets by high winds.

The boy was taken to the hospital after sustaining head and spinal injuries, where he is currently still recovering.

Event organisers at the forum, which has a piazza where community events are held, have announced that all future external events have been cancelled in light of the accident. Organisers of a vintage Italian car show that was planned for December 4 have reportedly decided not to go ahead, due to safety concerns.

The mother of the injured boy, Barbara Udwari, is an organiser of the forum Christmas markets.

“I think it’s sensible to not have events so nobody else gets seriously hurt” she said.

Inner West Council Senior Development Compliance Officer Andrew Zapantis conducted an investigation into the incident and found that a shutter in the ‘Milano’ section of the Piazza had collapsed.

The Inner West Council then handed out emergency orders five days after the incident to either remove the shutters installed with no balcony underneath, or to ensure the ones that remain are safe for pedestrians below. A fine for $2,200 can be applied if the emergency orders are not carried out.

In a statement from the Inner West Council about the incident, council said they are “negotiating with the strata management to comply with an emergency order to ensure that all shutters into the piazza area securely fixed back on their fixings”. 

“The strata management company and the owners corporation have committed to undertake a maintenance schedule and audit work to look at the fixing mechanism of the shutters and follow any recommendations of building maintenance consultants.”

Balmain MP Jamie Parker said he has been in touch with the family of the injured boy.

“I have been in touch with the family and offered them my support” Parker said. 

Parker said he will be taking steps to ensure the safety of the forum is addressed, so that public events can go ahead.

“Ultimately it is the responsibility of the owners and the council to ensure the forum is safe to hold public events.”

Forum in decline

Questions over the declining state of the once vibrant community spaces in the forum have arisen in recent months. Opening in 1999, the forum which contains residential and commercial lots and a cultural centre, was dedicated to the Italian community in Leichhardt.

Recent investigations into the state of disrepair, vacant shopfronts, and an empty fountain in the piazza, found that business owners and residents were unhappy over the decline of the forum.

Jamie Parker, who attended the opening of the Christmas markets at the forum in 2010, said that there is “still a long way to go” to see the forum reinvigorated.

“Everyone in the community wants to see this space returned to its former glory” Parker said. 

Italian charity Co.As.It now operates the cultural centre in the forum after winning a bid to take over in 2014, when the previous operators went into voluntary administration.

City Hub contacted Co.As.It about the incident, and asked whether a Christmas event planned for December 9 was still going ahead, however we didn’t receive a reply.