CBD block development: Safety concerns following building break-ins

Sunday, 7 July 2019

Aerial photo of the CBD Invercargill block encompassing Tay/Kelvin/Esk/ Dee streets, which is being earmarked for demolition.

As businesses vacate an inner-city Invercargill block earmarked for demolition, the number of break-ins in the area has ramped up, raising serious safety concerns.

HWCP Management Ltd director Scott O'Donnell, who has been a key driver behind the proposed inner-city block development, believed there was a group of people breaking into empty buildings and causing damage.

HWCP Management director Scott O'Donnell has safety concerns following people breaking into empty Invercargill CBD buildings.

He said it was annoying but he added that the safety of those people breaking into the buildings was a real concern.

HWCP has already started to prepare the empty buildings in the block for demolition.

* No appeals lodged against CBD resource consent decision**

It has included Invercargill firm Southern Insulation removing asbestos.

O'Donnell said there had been a lot of roofing and flooring removed in the buildings and only authorised people should be entering.

'There is a group which seems to be doing a world of trouble; they break into things and ransack things,' O'Donnell said.

'We are working very closely with police right now and plywooding up risk spots that they are getting into.

'They are breaking windows for no good reason, so we've got a bit of a challenge on our hands between us and the police.

'It's a real [safety] concern. Wearing our directors' caps, we are taking all practicable steps. If they break a window and get in, we can't do much about that.'

Jon Bisset, of the Invercargill police,confirmed the CBD block was 'an area of interest' at the moment in regard to a spate of break-ins.

He shared O'Donnell's safety concerns.

HWCP Management Ltd has been granted resource consent to demolish the block between Tay and Esk streets, bordered by Kelvin and Dee streets, but was awaiting an Invercargill City Council funding decision before starting the demolition.

That decision was expected in August.

Three companies have tendered for the demolition job, although O'Donnell said the successful tenderer would not be confirmed until after the funding has been sorted.

He said all three companies had different methodologies as to how to carry how the demolition, including where the demolition would start and finish in the block.

'The goal posts move every week as to what needs to happen. We are obviously now working with [Southern Institute of Technology] around the [corner of Kelvin and Tay streets] for apartments.

'It might mean we need to get that down because they need to move fast.'

O'Donnell was unaware of exactly how much rubble will be pulled from the site but said the plan was for a bulk of it to go to the SJ Timpany Landfill in Otatara.

He said they would recycle what waste they could.

There was quite a lot of nice pressed tin and wooden flooring that would be removed, O'Donnell said.

'We are going through now and trying to recover any of the good quality recyclables.

'Things like those Cambridge Arcade signs of Burt Munro; we are going to reuse them and hopefully have them as part of the [food and beverage area] to add a bit of historic flavour.'

The consent also requires the developers to take all the veranda poles on Tay St and keep them for future use.

Meanwhile, preparations will start this week for the installation of two test piles in the current car park area in the centre of the block.

The piles themselves will be installed from July 15 to 23.

On August 11, the piles will be tested, which involves a large weight being dropped from various heights to record the effect on the pile.