Report on Site Meeting No 3 – September 6th 2021
Work has steadily progressed during August – mainly on the inside of the church.
Buxton’s reported that the completion date now was estimated to be late October 2022, a 3 month delay from the original estimate. This is mainly due to the timescale for delivery of many of the main elements of the rebuild – for instance we now have a 26 week wait for roof tiles as against 12 originally quoted. The limecrete for the new slab should start to be delivered mid October. The best way to clean the brick work inside the church is taking longer than expected owing to undertaking paint trials. Another area of concern is the removal of asbestos from various areas which has to be undertaken before work can start in that area – we are waiting for the ‘method statement’ from the company that removed asbestos from the boiler room immediately after the fire.
Although permission has been granted and fees paid for the removal of the BT box on the pathway the work still has not been undertaken . Similarly HCC have yet to confirm whether they will allow Buxton’s to undertake dropping the curb so that the construction of the lay by can begin. The layby construction will take 3 – 4 weeks to complete.
The Pulpit has been dismantled and will be moved off site for cleaning and restoration. The Font has had to be completely destroyed owing to fire damage. The Lady chapel has now been dismantled. Work continues cleaning the individual floor tiles to see which can be used.
Discussion re the electrical wiring took place – confirmation of where sockets will go and if they will be sufficient. Possible dates to visit a church in the Cotswolds to view a lighting scheme will be sent to us. The siting of a new Organ – whether that be a Pipe version or Electronic was discussed. This also affects the underfloor heating pipes as it is not wise to have them underneath an organ console or piano.
Despite all the potential problems ahead Buxton’s are confident that the work can continue.