Tamworth Regional Council: mammoth relocation task continues weeks after Ray Walsh House deemed off limits due to asbestos

Efforts to shift more than 250 employees from Ray Walsh House on Peel Street are continuing after significant issues were uncovered within the 50-year-old building - which is riddled with asbestos containing materials.

Staff previously located on Levels 1, 2 and 3 have been either working from home, in other council owned venues, or in a "hot desking" capacity in the open floors of Ray Walsh House since the problem was announced in mid-June.

Tamworth Regional Council general manager Paul Bennett told the Leader while change is always difficult, the pandemic proved council can continue to deliver important services to the community in the face of challenging circumstances.

"I am confident that this will be the case again," he said.

"As an organisation, we are proud of the resilience and willingness to adapt that our staff have shown over the past few weeks."

Maintaining a presence within the CBD is a big focus, with a project team assessing both council-owned and available commercial spaces for the longer term.

"We are in discussions with a number of commercial providers; however we are not yet in a position to confirm new premises as we work through this mammoth task," Mr Bennett said.

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Mayor Russell Webb told the Leader the closure of the building had caused "some disruption" to staff, but council was getting on with the job of delivering services to the community.

He said senior staff were busily working with professionals in the asbestos remediation industry to develop a plan to solve the problem.

"It's disappointing that we have to go through this process, it's very disappointing," he said.

"The building is nearly 50 years of age. We understand that there's a lot of stuff within the building that probably does need attention, regardless of whether we've got any other issues or not relating to the asbestos.

"But it's something that as an organisation and as a community, at some point in time, whether it be now or into the future, we were going to be faced with this issue.

"In some ways it's probably better to deal with it now and get it dealt with and we can move on in a positive way."

The building, which dates back to the 1970s, was initially built to serve the Peel-Cunningham County Council, before being transferred to the Tamworth council in the 1990s.

Customer-facing teams in both Tamworth's customer service centre and the Development Hub continue to operate out of Ray Walsh House.

A council spokesperson said the response was being delivered in two phases.

"The first phase - the long term relocation of our staff - continues to be the priority for the project team at this time," they said.

"Phase two of the project will be an assessment of the future of the Ray Walsh House structure."

Any decision on the building's future will be considered at a council meeting.

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