£900k RAAC works at Peterborough Town Hall to begin within two months

The mitigation measures will ensure the safety of the occupants using the space below, as the current floor construction (the roof of the original 1930s building) would not be strong enough to withstand falling RAAC panels, according to a council report.

While the council claimed that the likelihood of RAAC collapse was unlikely, it admitted that the implications would be “severe” if it were to happen, including a serious risk of fatality or serious injury to occupants below.

A council scrutiny committee recommended that cabinet members delayed the decision to approve the works until a long-term plan was established for the building.

However, cabinet members dismissed this recommendation and gave the works the go ahead at a meeting on July 15, highlighting the urgency of the situation.

Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Mohammed Jamil, said: “I note the concerns of the committee but I feel we’ve got to move on, simply because this work needs to be done.

“Whatever we decide to do with the Town Hall, the important thing is we make it safe. If we don’t and there are consequences, those can be even more dire.”

Rachael Hunns, head of compliance and capital programs at the council, confirmed that the works would begin within six to eight weeks and be completed by the end of December.

Ms Hunns said the council would aim to “limit public disruption” while the works took place, noting that a scaffold system would be in place next to the building’s entrance on St Peter’s Road.

She confirmed that the building would not be evacuated during the works as the area for the works was already isolated.

Executive director of place and economy, Adrian Chapman, added: “If we don’t do the works now, we will have to vacate the whole of the Town Hall.”

Since January, all city council meetings have been held at the authority’s offices in Sand Martin House instead of the Town Hall due to the condition and fire safety of the historic building on Bridge Street.

Despite the issues on the second floor, other parts of the building have remained in use such as the chamber which has been used as a coroner’s court.

At the cabinet meeting, members also approved the disposal of the former TK Maxx and New Look building on Bridge Street.

The building was initially acquired by the council for £4.1 million to accommodate the Vine project, one of the eight projects being funded by the Towns Fund programme, but the council will now sell it due to it being “no longer economically viable”

Cllr Nick Thulbourn, the council’s cabinet member for growth and regeneration, hopes the sale of the vacant four-storey building will “breathe new life” into the area.