Taupo council building risks 'unacceptable': Consultants' report

The front of the Taupo District Council building on Lake Terrace. PHOTO/FILE

A new report has found the Taupo District Council building posed considerable and unacceptable health and safety risks to council staff and the public.

The Taupo District Council Civic Administration building - Risk Management Report, which is in the council's Audit and Risk Committee meeting agenda for Monday , concluded the council had little option but to move out of the Lake Tce building.

In April the council said asbestos had been detected and with other issues such as a leaking roof, ventilation problems, cabling issues, and lack of earthquake strengthening the building should either be demolished or repaired.

Councillors subsequently decided the building was not worth repairing and would instead demolish it and rebuild on another site, yet to be determined.

That decision caused protest in some quarters, with local resident John Mason saying he had copies of correspondence stating the building could be made safe for occupation, with staff remaining in it until a new building could be completed, while others urged the council to move its staff out quickly or risk facing long-term health issues.

Last month the council engaged Beca Ltd and Warren and Mahoney Architects to conduct a risk assessment to give it some certainty around the risk level. The consultants looked at the likelihood of each risk occurring and the severity of the consequence if it did.

The companies concluded that "the risk profile presented by the existing civic administration building to TDC staff, service delivery, and the general public, in particular the health and safety risks, are considerable and are therefore untenable to TDC".

The building's risk profile contained 27 extreme and high level threats out of a total of 29 threats and four opportunities identified, the report said.

The report will be discussed at the Audit and Risk Committee meeting at 10am on Monday.