March 10th, 2005

A massive building project in Liverpool, England, is to go ahead, despite the discovery of asbestos on the site where the building – and demolition – is to be carried out. The plans are to build a huge leisure facility and shopping center in the area, which involves the demolition of other buildings. One of the buildings to be demolished is the Moat House Hotel, which was erected over four decades ago, and it was here that the high levels of asbestos were discovered.

Following thorough inspection and testing of the building, it was discovered that asbestos was in the walls and ceilings of the hotel. Contractors have been assigned to remove this deadly substance prior to the demolition of the buildings, and officials insist that this has not delayed any plans to press ahead with the Grosvenor Project, which is estimated at a cost of around £800 million.

Rod Holmes, the director of the project, confirmed that the extent of asbestos presence at the hotel was not yet known. He also stated that the problem would be dealt with promptly and that no delay would be caused on the building project, which is running to tight timescales. He stated: "It is quite usual to discover asbestos when dealing with a building of this age and there are tried and tested procedures for removing it."

He went on to state: "We anticipated there might be asbestos in the Moat House and allowed for that when drawing up the timescale. There should not be any delays. A specialist firm is starting removing it. That should take about six to eight weeks. However, demolition work will start on parts of the Moat House where no asbestos has been found in two or three weeks' time.”