Unsightly Containers To be Replaced On Dee Street

New containers will be in place outside the old Briscoes building by the end of the month.

Invercargill City Council chief executive Michael Day confirmed they had been proactively working with the owner of the building on issues that have been raised by the community. 

“Our focus in the short term is to address concerns raised regarding the type of containers currently in place outside the building. Council has agreed to change the current containers to newer containers… we remain focused on working towards a longer term outcome with the building owner.”

The Briscoe and Co building on Dee St was engulfed by fire last September, and unsightly temporary containers have been placed in the walkway ever since.

The ILT and other business owners in the area urged council to do something about them, as they were affecting trading and Chris Ramsay said this week also a huge health and safety risk.

Chris has questioned why the containers were even needed to be there a year on from when the  building was deemed unsafe and earthquake prone.

Council has determined that the old Briscoes (Pall Mall) building was classed as dangerous, due to the fire.

Group manager consenting and environment Jonathan Shaw said last week a structural engineer has specified the use of containers to mitigate danger from overhead hazards presented by the building in its current state. 

“The engineer has also specified that the containers be in their current location as opposed to under the veranda where he considers the risk to be too high for shipping containers to mitigate the risk effectively.”

The council’s regulatory powers were limited to reducing any immediate hazards and risks, but has been working with the owner on a long-term outcome. 

“The owner has been very co-operative and is aware that there are Resource Management Act matters that need to be worked through as well as Building Act matters.”