Concrete mess

Today’s blip of the Brunton Theatre is particularly topical, as the existence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in our local Brunton theatre has been known about for many months now (seemingly before the most recent furore). This has meant that the theatre has been closed (with all booked shows being relocated to other venues locally, such as Loretto School), although, some of the other services provided by the building have been able to continue.

The next steps for the building are not clear, and the recent issues where RAAC has been identified in many other buildings inc. schools, hospitals, prisons, libraries etc. muddies the waters even more. However, in relation to the Brunton Theatre, from an article in the East Lothian Courier (24 August 2023), our Council Leader, Norman Hampshire said:

Mr Hampshire said work was being done to evaluate the costs of repairs and that all options were being considered, including knocking the building down and rebuilding it. He said: “The Brunton is a more complicated issue. We won’t know what the best solution is until we have a report on full costings. It may be a case of having to knock it down and rebuild. But we have not considered that yet and have made no decisions. Regardless of the decision, it is on us as a council to ensure the facility is not lost. It may take more time than we hoped but we will build a facility to replace it if need be.”
 
Who knows what the future holds for this award winning building (apparently, some architects seem to think it is good), as well as many other buildings, but what is certain, is that we are now paying the cost for using this cheap material (who would think that concrete that looks like an Aero bar would be strong enough to last), and not keeping it maintained properly over the years. 

Here’s a link to our local paper if you want to know about our councils woes with RAAC, which will be repeated across many UK council areas.

https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/23742868.brunton-loch-centre-preston-lodge-will-not-lost/

Sorry to be on a bit of a downer on what has turned into a beautiful sunny and warm autumn day, however, I like to think that Blipfoto records all different issues both personal as well as national.

Anyway, I hope you have had a good day. I have, Martin and I were out for lunch with our friends, Murdo and Jenny to the recently reopened Olive tree cafe (previously known as ‘Cakes and Shakes, and ‘The Cheesecake cafe). It was very nice and we’ll be going back.