CPAC faces red-hot bill
ANOTHER expensive act in Cairns Performing Arts Centre’s fire compliance saga is unfolding with safety upgrades tipped to cost about $2 million.
Cairns Regional Council is locked in a tribunal battle as Queensland Fire and Emergency Services pushes for the $70 million theatre to be shut down unless costly safety measures are put in place.
The council’s infrastructure general manager Bruce Gardiner revealed QFES had appealed to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission to repeal certificate of classification allowing the theatre to operate.
The council has agreed to install a $400,000 sprinkler system but, on the advice of engineers and lawyers, hopes to bypass two other measures.
“If we are required at some stage and put in the vertical fire breaks … and the smoke detection system, you’re probably looking at another $1.5 million,” Mr Gardiner said.
Mayor Bob Manning was confident the council would not have to pay the extra $1.5 million.
“If the courts rule that way, then we will,” he said.
Division 5 Cr Richie Bates, who wrote an email to all councillors about his concerns about the building’s compliance in June last year, said his subsequent requests for information had been denied.
“Ratepayers deserve better than a Punch and Judy show between litigants,” he said.
“All I could rely on was advice from the construction industry stakeholders and the writing was on the wall some years ago with regulatory bodies flagging issues of noncompliance of cladding in relation to building fire safety.
“Here locally, we saw major builders remove cladding from their construction regime to avoid noncompliance – Hutchinson Builders’ work at JCU on the Institute of Tropical Health (opened in 2018) is a prime example.
“They rightfully erred on side of caution and have eliminated compliance problems down the track.”
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