Town hall repairs reduce Raac risks, says council
Local Democracy Reporting ServiceThe risk posed by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) to a town hall has been significantly reduced following repairs, a city council said.
The mitigation work to Peterborough Town Hall, which is expected to cost £900,000, was approved by Peterborough City Council's cabinet in July 2025.
At the time, the authority said the risk of the roof collapsing was unlikely, but acknowledged the consequences could be severe if it did.
Mohammed Jamil, the authority's cabinet member for finance and corporate governance, said: "We have completed phase one of the works to heavily reduce the risk of any Raac damage.
"[We] have carried out further intrusive investigations to better understand the condition of the Raac and its risk profile.
"These investigations have found that much of the roof and wall structures are in a better condition than we first feared, so we are planning to carry out targeted remediation works to those areas identified as needing attention."
"We now need to undertake design works for this targeted remediation work."
More from Peterborough:
The authority has not provided a timeframe for when the work would be completed.
Since January 2025 all council meetings have been held at the authority's Sand Martin House offices because of concerns over the condition and fire safety of the town hall.
An NHS service that was also based at the town hall has vacated its workspace following concerns over the Raac in the building.
The mitigation work was approved despite the council's Scrutiny Committee recommending last year that cabinet members delay a decision until a long-term plan for the building had been established.
However, the council said the work was too urgent to postpone and warned that failing to act could have significant financial implications for the authority.
Do you have a story suggestion for Peterborough? Contact us below.
Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
