Raac repairs costing £900k to begin at town hall

The work at Peterborough Town Hall will begin later this month

Work to repair reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) at a city's town hall will begin this month - at a cost of about £900,000.

The "urgent" mitigation work was authorised by Peterborough City Council cabinet members in July after Raac was found at Peterborough Town Hall.

It will take place on the upper floor of the Bridge Street building due to the current floor construction (the roof of the original 1930s building) not being strong enough to withstand falling Raac panels, the authority said.

"We will be on site to start stripping out at the end of October," a council spokesperson said.

The council said that Raac collapse was unlikely, but it admitted that implications could be "severe" if it did happen, including a serious risk of fatality or serious injury, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Several pre-construction surveys have been carried out, including asbestos surveys and removal or remediation, removal of wall linings and gantry design.

It is understood that a scaffold system will be in place next to the building's rear entrance on St Peter's Road throughout the work.

The mitigation work was given the go-ahead despite a council scrutiny committee recommending that cabinet members delayed their decision until a long-term plan was established for the building.

It was deemed that the work was too urgent and the council could suffer financially if nothing was done.

Since January, all city council meetings have been held at the authority's offices in Sand Martin House instead of Town Hall due to the condition and fire safety of the building.