Safety concerns over leaky roof
Richmond Library is approaching the end of its life and has significant structural and leaking issues, a council report says.
At a Tasman District Council operations committee meeting last month, Glennis Coote, the district’s libraries manager said the ceiling of the building had started to “sag” prompting concerns among staff.
But other Tasman District Council staff said two consultants had gone through the building and said it was safe as it stood, and there was “nothing wrong” with its structural integrity.
A report presented at the meeting stated the library was “approaching its end of life with significant structure (roof) and water ingress issues”.
When asked about the impact on the library’s operations, Coote said the library had been “plagued by leaks” almost since the time when the building was redeveloped.
The Richmond Library was formerly a retail store, and was bought and retrofitted by the council in 1991.
Staff were particularly noticing the problem in the staff areas upstairs, Coote said, where the ceiling had “started to sag”. It had been doing so for some time, she said, and the solar panels being added to the roof had created even more of an issue there.
The developments had caused concerns among staff about safety, she said. “We have been told at this point that it is not a safety issue, but ... that is still a concern to staff.”
Coote said the long-running leaks had necessitated previous repairs on the library, with affected wall lining on the car park side of the library having been replaced. According to a report presented to the committee, a solar system installed on the library roof last year will be relocated to Tākaka.
Solar panels were installed on the roof of the library in 2022, and a structural assessment was done on the roof at that time.
When asked if sagging and structural issues appeared in the structural assessment, community infrastructure senior enterprise portfolio officer Stephen Batt said they did not.
In response to questions from Stuff, Batt said the building’s cladding had cracked and allowed water ingress in “various locations” around the building, leading staff to suspect that framing would have suffered some damage as a result.
However, Batt said until invasive investigation was carried out on the issues, “you don’t know what you are dealing with”.
Two consultants had gone through the building and said it was safe as it stood, and there was “nothing wrong” with its structural integrity.
When asked if the library would move, Batt said he didn’t believe that conversations had gone down that path. “The idea is evaluating how bad the problem is, what the options are to fix it, and if at the outside chance they were too expensive then we would look at alternatives.”
If the cladding and the roof were repaired, Batt said the council could expect to get 15 years out of the building at that level of investment, but a cost benefit analysis would need to be undertaken.
Continuing service at the library was “our highest priority for council”.
“Buildings renew and get replaced all the time,” Batt said. “It’s very normal in the asset life cycle.”
A structural report on the library will be prepared.