On Monday 20th November a fire in the early hours caused extensive damage to a property on the corner of Riddle Street and Talbot St in Fairlie. We now know that the property contains asbestos which was also damaged in the fire.
High winds yesterday stirred up the residue from the fire and disturbed the asbestos. Because of this potential severe risk to the public, we closed an area based on Riddle Street.
We took a variety of measures to reduce the potential impact on members of the public and today we commissioned some specialist testing to identify the extent of any asbestos contamination. The first lot of results have been received and they are all negative.
The public toilets in Fairlie were closed but after a clean on the advice of Public Health, we have been able to safely reopen them.
The playground also requires cleaning, and this will be done next week.
Arrangements have now been made to safely demolish the remains of the badly damaged buildings. Specialist contractors are onsite today and are preparing to start work. They are working with WorkSafe and the demolition will pose no additional risk to the public.
The cordon will remain in place until next week and we ask everyone to be patient with our contractors while they complete this important work.
We expect work to take place over the weekend, and we will issue an update on Monday.