Fire at old Claremont Primary School site prompted issuing of emergency order
A Tasmanian council has confirmed a recent fire at an old school site prompted the issuing of an emergency order to make the site safe.
Tasmania
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A RECENT fire at the old Claremont Primary School site prompted the issuing of an emergency order to make the site safe, Glenorchy City Council has confirmed.
The blaze last month was significant enough to force the order, which required property owners to engage building contractors who have been on site conducting works.
The run-down Cadbury Rd site has been the subject of housing development proposals for several years and has remained empty since the school shut in 2011.
But it was purchased last year for an undisclosed sum by Chinese-born Hobart businessman Kai Yang, with plans for a community precinct to be known as Windermere Bay Precinct.
Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston said under the order, the area was fenced and she encouraged people to stay away.
“We plead with members of the public not to enter. It is private property ... and clearly a construction site,’’ she said.
“Naturally council will be following up on the emergency order and will continue to take action as required.”
Nearby resident Linda Coombes said she was concerned about rumours she had heard about the possible presence of asbestos at the site.
“We are very happy that the school is finally going to be cleaned up because it’s an absolute eyesore and it has been for some time,’’ she said.
“There has been numerous episodes where it has been set alight and vandalised.”
Michael Irwin, the chief executive of TasBuild who are the mortgagees in possession of the property, said the issue of asbestos was investigated in 2018 after a fire at the property.
“We got a report from the asbestos removal providers back in May 2018 ... they've given a very clear report that they assessed the whole building site and removed all the asbestos they could find,’’ he said. “That was all in compliance with council requirements.”
Mr Irwin confirmed a building contractor had been on site recently following an order by the council after the most recent fire.
“He did an investigation himself in accordance with the order to identify whether there were any remnants of asbestos were left and didn’t identify any,’’ he said.
Ald Johnston said a development application for the planned project for the site was expected to be lodged in the new year.
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