Preston Town Hall asbestos removal gets under way
It's delayed repairs to toilet facilities in the building
Work is getting under way at Preston Town Hall to remove asbestos which has delayed repairs to toilet facilities in the building.
An urgent decision taken by the Preston City Council’s leader has allocated almost £70,000 for the removal of the potentially dangerous material from part of the authority’s headquarters.
A routine asbestos management survey undertaken last September found asbestos containing materials (ACMs) in the ducting system on the second floor.
According to a report of the leader Matthew Brown’s decision – published on the city council’s website – there were “several instances where removal of ACMs was recommended due to the high potential to release asbestos fibres if disturbed”.
Separately, drainage problems have taken the toilets on the second floor of the Lancaster Road building out of use. However, the necessary repair work cannot be completed because of the presence of high-risk ACMs within the ducting beneath the floor, which needs to be accessed in order to fix the toilets.
Intact asbestos which is not interfered with is unlikely to cause harm, but if it is moved and its fibres are inhaled, it can lead to cancer.
The council report states that the toilet situation has made the removal of the asbestos in that area a “priority”.
Work has already been undertaken to “mitigate disruption to staff” – and only two offices will have to be temporarily relocated within the Town Hall while the project is completed. The job is expected to take up to three weeks.
The overall cost of the scheme includes 24-hour air monitoring, additional out-of-hours security provision and a contingency fund of just over £6,000.
The funding has come from an existing capital programme for work on the authority’s so-called ‘core and major assets”, which had a budget of £120,000.
After a tender process, the contract for the asbestos removal has been handed to specialist Warrington-based firm Rhodar, which the city council says has previously completed work for the authority “to a high standard”.