Contamination drives up demolition costs at Norwich site.

Demolishing Norwich’s Mile Cross depot, to make way for hundreds of new homes, will cost almost £2m – because the site is so contaminated, council bosses have revealed.

Councillors will next week be asked to agree to make £1.98 millon available for works at the site, where investigations found chemical contaminants such as asbestos, along with low levels of ground gas.

Demolition of buildings at the 10.5 acre site, off Mile Cross Road, would cost an estimated £700,000, but a contamination specialist said a further £1.2m would need to be go on decontamination.

Not all would come from City Hall’s coffers. The government has made nearly £1m available through a grant, which the council has to match fund.

The council has applied to its own planning committee for demolition permission and the ruling Labour cabinet will decide next Wednesday whether to agree the budget for the demolition.

Read more here.

Country’s most expensive house to make way for larger mansion.

A trust linked to billionaire Dermot Desmond has secured planning permission to demolish a house on Dublin’s Shrewsbury Road, which remains the most expensive residence ever sold in the State at €58 million, and construct a 1,600 square metre mansion in its place.

Three previous applications to knock down and replace Walford were rejected by planners but Mr Desmond’s Celtic Trustees Ltd has been given the green light to do so. The house, located on a on a 1.77 acre site in Ballsbridge, was built in 1902 and has fallen into disrepair in recent times.

The Desmond linked trust paid €14.25 million for Walford in December 2016 and the planning permission granted allows the development of a property almost three times larger than the existing 553 square metre house.

Desmond, the largest shareholder in Celtic football club in Glasgow, has recruited former Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Marcus Barnett to oversee the creation of a private garden. Other features listed in the application include a subterranean swimming pool, a gym, a cellar, a games room and a staff bedroom looking out onto a sunken courtyard.

Read more here.

If you hear a loud thump, that will be the new Demolition mag hitting the doorstep.

Ever since it first topped the 100-page mark, the Demolition magazine has been growing progressively larger with each passing edition.

The latest edition – the Lilac Wine issue – retains that trend, delivering a massive 130 pages of demolition coverage that needs to be seen to be believed.

Included in the new issue is:

• Building on a Legacy with C&D Consultancy
• The wider cost of pollution
• Review of demolition-proof Tuff Phone
• Deconstruction of a landmark with Castle & Pryor
• Playing Away with Cawarden Demolition
• British Demolition Awards – All the runners and riders
• The House that Squibb built

And a whole lot more.

You can read each article using the links above, or you can simply dive into the full electronic edition below:

Dozens of council housing estates in London slated for demolition and redevelopment.

The BBC is reporting that more than 31,000 residents will be affected if plans go ahead to regenerate some 118 sites across the capital. While those moves are being seen as encroaching upon social housing and another example of gentrification, the full or partial demolition of more than 100 council estates will surely be welcomed by the UK demolition industry.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has told councils they must now ballot residents on regeneration plans to secure City Hall funding.

Of the estates to be regenerated, more than 80 will be fully or partially demolished, according to council responses to a BBC freedom of information request.

One of the sites set to see the biggest loss of homes is the Heygate estate in Southwark.

More than 1,200 council properties were torn down between 2011 and 2014 and replaced by a luxury development called Elephant Park.

In Westminster, the city council plans to flatten 300 homes at the Ebury Bridge estate in Pimlico to make way for 750 new properties, the majority of which will be sold on the private market.

Read the full story here.

Award-winning contractor recruiting across the board.

Fresh from picking up a coveted award at the inaugural British Demolition Awards, Hertfordshire-based Rye Demolition has hit he recruitment trail.

The company has vacancies for the following:

• Senior commercial manager
• Development manager
• Senior estimator
• Class 1&2 drivers

Great packages available

Contact:  S.barlow@ryedemolition.co.uk

Rye Demolition Ltd has an enviable reputation for delivering quality, professionalism and value on all its projects and demands the highest standards with the emphasis on Health and Safety and the Environment. With its proven capabilities working on large or small contracts our proactive approach provides a commitment to ensure contracts are finished on time and within budget.