The $1.56m project to demolish the Old Polytech building and construct a basic gravel car park hit a minor roadblock when asbestos pipework was discovered below ground.  

Pipework insulation that contained asbestos was discovered underground at the former Polytech site on Cameron Street, delaying the final stage of demolition of the old classroom block.

Council's business support group managerHelen Barnes said the additional asbestos find was discovered within the immediate vicinity of the old block.

“This pipework enters the old boiler room and appears to branch off to feed the heating system at Balmoral Hall.

“Finds like this are not unusual when sites are being redeveloped and we have to deal with past contamination in a responsible way.”

The new-found asbestos removal is scheduled to start on February 2, pushing the completion date back to the end of March.

Specialist asbestos removal was required before the demolition of the buildings, which took longer than the scheduled 12 weeks because of an unexpected discovery of more asbestos in the building.