Contamination drives up demolition costs at Norwich site.
Demolishing Norwich’s Mile Cross depot, to make way for hundreds of new homes, will cost almost £2m – because the site is so contaminated, council bosses have revealed.
Councillors will next week be asked to agree to make £1.98 millon available for works at the site, where investigations found chemical contaminants such as asbestos, along with low levels of ground gas.
Demolition of buildings at the 10.5 acre site, off Mile Cross Road, would cost an estimated £700,000, but a contamination specialist said a further £1.2m would need to be go on decontamination.
Not all would come from City Hall’s coffers. The government has made nearly £1m available through a grant, which the council has to match fund.
The council has applied to its own planning committee for demolition permission and the ruling Labour cabinet will decide next Wednesday whether to agree the budget for the demolition.
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