Got questions on Ray Walsh House? Your full breakdown of the asbestos issue

Between Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) placing 55 documents on public display and the local ratepayers' association calling for an independent investigation, there's a lot of noise around the brutalist building in the CBD.

TRC says it was forced to make tough decisions due to circumstances beyond their control, while the Tamworth Regional Residents and Ratepayers Association alleges moving out and partially demolishing the interior of the building was a knee-jerk overreaction at best and deliberate sabotage at worst.

To cut through the conspiracy theories and misinformation, the Leader has put together a breakdown of the situation that's gripped the council for two years - or 11, depending on who you ask.

The earliest document released by council is an all-staff email dated December 7, 2021, six months before hundreds of employees would be told to vacate Ray Walsh House.

On that date an incident occurred that TRC general manager Paul Bennett told the Leader this week was "the first identification of asbestos when some of the vermiculite fell through the ceiling into the workspace".

An air duct detached from the main air system and fell onto the Level 2 roofing. The impact disturbed dust in the ceiling which tested positive for friable asbestos particles.

This was indeed the first instance of asbestos in the general workspace, but the real story begins at least eight years earlier, when asbestos was found in the basement of Ray Walsh House.

A report from asbestos testing service EnviroScience solutions dated June 12, 2013, says "steel beams in the [basement] have been sprayed with a fire retardant material" containing friable asbestos.

The Leader obtained a copy of the report and asked TRC whether more could've been done to remediate Ray Walsh House in the time between 2013 and the forced staff relocation in 2022.

Council was unable to provide a response by deadline.

In addition, another EnviroScience report from 2020 was sent to the Leader by Calala resident Marie Fenn, who has raised transparency issues on Ray Walsh House previously.

The report contained an asbestos audit for the entire building, listing the majority of rooms on all floors at the lowest risk level - no action required.

"I believe this report is a thorough report on the whole of the building which shows in my opinion, very little issue which did not require it to be demolished as it has been," Ms Fenn said.

"I believe this initial report is vital as it, in my opinion, shows the property was not 'riddled' as stated by TRC."

However, by 2022 the problem was less about how much asbestos was in the building and more about where that asbestos was located.

On June 2, 2022, the air conditioning system for Levels 1 through 3 of Ray Walsh House was turned off for a routine fire assessment.

During the assessment by TRC staff, white dust particles were found in the Plant Room on Level 5 of RWH. Since council was already on high-alert for asbestos, samples were immediately sent to EnviroScience.

On June 9, EnviroScience confirmed the presence of friable asbestos in the Level 5 Plant Room's air intake, bag filter room, on the floors of both the heating/cooling and air return rooms, and within the ducts leading to the north and east parts of the building.

Little to no asbestos was found in the air on Level 5, and none was found on Level 3 during a test the week before, so the incident wasn't considered an additional asbestos-related risk to staff.

But the problem was the air system.

EnviroScience told TRC the presence of asbestos in the air system's filtration and return portions meant "it is highly likely that asbestos fibres have contaminated the ducts throughout the building".

"Due to the size and complexity of the air conditioner duct network, full remediation of the ducts via cleaning is likely implausible," an EnviroScience report said.

A large portion of the air system, which had already been turned off for a week, needed removing and replacing before it could be safely switched back on.

This created a problem for Levels 1 through 3, where the lack of air flow was deemed a risk to anyone working on those floors.

In response, TRC general manager Paul Bennett instructed all managers, supervisors, and executives to assist their teams in transitioning to new work-from-home or alternative arrangements.

In an email dated June 9, 2022, Mr Bennett said a long-term plan to fix the asbestos as well as unspecified "fire safety compliance" issues in Ray Walsh House was something "on the horizon for council for a while now".

"However, the increased frequency of immediate issues impacting council operations is accelerating these plans," his email said.

From then on, access to Levels 1, 2, and 3 was restricted for short-term tasks only, such as grabbing files or printing documents.

Air flow on the Ground Floor and Level 4 was considered satisfactory and work on those floors continued as usual until councillors voted to fully vacate the building for remediation on September 13, 2022.

At this time, Public Works NSW was hired as a project manager for the asbestos removal and refurbishment of Ray Walsh House.

The budget Public Works recommended TRC allocate for the remediation - confidential at the time - was $40 million.

As the remediation project progressed, the government agency revised the options available as well as their costings. As of now Public Works says council has five options:

Council argues the state government should help cover those costs as the asbestos problem was not disclosed when it sold Ray Walsh House to the local government in the '90s.

But no help has been offered, and TRC has resolved to further investigate its options for the future of the building and undertake community consultation on those options.

Those options range from council reversing its decision not to move back in, to selling or demolishing the building, or constructing new offices inside a proposed $90 to $120 million Performing Arts Centre TRC has been seeking grant funding to build for a number of years.

Whatever option is taken will be decided on by the next council after council elections in September. The Leader understands community consultation is expected to start next year.