PROJECT VALUE: £130,000

DURATION:  8 weeks

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 Kirk Mill is a Grade II listed 18th Century Mill originally built for the cotton industry, but taken over in 1880 by HJ Berry, a furniture manufacturer who were the oldest chair manufacturers in the UK. 

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The rural picturesque village of Chipping sits on the outskirts of Preston with a population of just over 1,000 residents. The £19m renovation project includes two hotels, holiday cottages, gym and spa facilities and housing as well as a trailhead centre with a café, new footpaths, cycle routes and an outdoor area which could be used to stage farmers’ markets. 

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Emchia Asbestos Solutions were appointed to undertake the removal of all asbestos containing materials as part of the development works. The asbestos report identified 6,000m2 of cement roof sheets, asbestos insulating board (AIB) and thermal insulation to pipework. 

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We worked with the client to agree a reasonable programme of works for undertaking the removal works, given that some of the asbestos containing materials were licensable and subject to an ASB5 notification to the HSE. 

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The Project Manager from Emchia Asbestos Solutions held a ‘Q&A session’ at the local café for the locals of Chipping, so that we could provide information on the scheduled works and to discuss any inconvenience to the village with any potential noise disruption and an increase of traffic and construction vehicles around the area. This was discussed in detail with a number of local residents and they were happy that they were given a contact number to call to report any comments or complaints they may have. 

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Demolition contractors were appointed to undertake the partial demolition of the buildings on site to accommodate the planned refurbishment and new build works. Our programme ensured that we could work together on the site releasing areas systematically to the demolition contractors to minimise any disruption to their own programme requirements. 

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Emchia set up a traffic management system, with a site compound containing a welfare unit, generators and a mobile water bowser to provide power and water to the site. 

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We had three teams working concurrently using mobile elevated working platforms (MEWPs) to remove the asbestos containing cement roof sheets. Multiple 35 yd skips were filled and exchanged on a daily basis. Another team carried out the licensable removal works under notification to the HSE, which ran alongside the teams completing the non-licensable works. 

The project was completed on time and within budget to the satisfaction of the client.