The man, who did not wish to be named, said he was concerned the material had contributed to his reoccurring sinusitis.

“I had been thinking that it was a reaction dust mites, but now I think it might be something more sinister,” he said.

The asbestos was uncovered when contractors removed a retaining wall on Monday, but didn’t notice the sheet of buried asbestos according to the manager of the block of flats, Homes North Community Housing. 

A spokesman for the company said it was the first he heard about the asbestos. 

Since then the housing group has had the sheet removed.

The resident said he was concerned the fibre could have affected his health.

But Armidale based building project manager John Davidson said  health problems from asbestos can take 30 years to manifest.

Still the resident was worried about how many more sheets might be underground on his property.

“If there’s one piece there would probably be more pieces buried underneath,” he said.

Home North Community Housing asset manager Ben Ireland said the sheet was only a danger if it was broken and the situation was only potentially dangerous when the resident  broke off a sample to confirm the material contained asbestos.

While asbestos is notorious for a string of cancers and deaths Mr Davidson said if it was undisturbed it wasn’t the menace people thought it was.

“There are literally millions of houses in Australia that have this stuff on the walls and it’s of no danger…unless you play with it,” he said.

“It’s when you start drilling a hole in it or cutting it up with a saw, that’s when the particles are exposed.”

He said while asbestos could be dangerous the risk didn’t justify the “hysteria” that surrounded it.

“[In Sydney] you’ll drive past lots and lots of places that have lots and lots of asbestos and it’s really not an issue,” he said.

Mr Davidson examined a sample of the asbestos sheet the resident took and said it very deteriorated but couldn’t say how old it was.