Chris Dobney
Byron Shire Council has taken its builder’s advice and agreed to rip up and replace the floor of the multi-purpose facility in the shire’s sparkling new Sports and Cultural Complex before a game has even been played.
The good news is that it won’t cost ratepayers a cent, unlike the roundabout at the Ewingsdale Road entrance to the complex, which required a $700,000 makeover in order to be operable – money that the council is still fighting to get back.
A spokesperson for the council told Echonetdaily that during inspections ahead of the building’s handover, the builder pointed out problems with the floor of the main hall.
At his recommendation, council agreed to complete replacement of the floor at no charge to the council but incurring a delay of several months.
A council spokesperson told Echonetdaily, ‘the floor in the sports hall is being replaced because of serious quality defects. It was simply not up to the standard required.’
Echonetdaily understands the problem extends to some of the support beams underneath the floor.
‘These defects have been recognised by Council and the contractor, as well as in an independent report by the Australian Timber Flooring Association,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The community would be rightly concerned if Council, knowing of the problems with the floor, overlooked the need to replace it now, only to inevitably go through this process after sports groups had started regularly using the hall.
‘By making the decision now to have the floor replaced, the new floor will reflect the investment the community has made in the sports complex, and will allowed for sustained use over the long term.’
Other floors in the complex were also deemed to be inadequately surfaced and will be sanded back and refinished at the same time.
Council says the new timber floor will also come with a three-year warranty versus the previous one-year warranty.
It is anticipated that the new floor in the main arena will be completed in June.
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