Demolition of former Ironbridge Power Station to cost £10m
Demolishing the former Ironbridge Power Station could cost about £10 million and take two years to complete, it has emerged.
Security measures have also had to be introduced since the Harworth Group bought the site in June because of thieves from all over the country trying to break in.
Two proposals for the site have already been unveiled to the public, giving an idea of where hundreds of homes, businesses and leisure facilities could sit within the Gorge.
An update on the project, which could take 15 years to be complete, was given at a breakfast meeting attended by the county's business leaders in Shrewsbury yesterday.
Representatives from the site owner gave a list of the challenges they face, with demolition and security high on the list.
Stuart Ashton, head of planning at the Harworth Group, said: "We have got a lot of work and technical issues to tackle.
"All the discussions over what is staying and going is finished. We now have to sort out the demolition of the site which will take at least two years. We are now out to tender and we will have to select a partner to work with.
"You have got huge costs with the redevelopment of the site. We are expecting to have costs of about £10 million to carry out the demolition.
"There will be a further £10 million to do the remediation work, then another £10-20 million to put the infrastructure back in there.
"One of the problems we had was when we acquired the site lots of other people have wanted to try and get into it. We have thieves from all over the country trying to break in.
"We have infrared cameras and dog patrols on there. It is a real issue for us getting on the site and getting going with the demolition."
Mr Ashton said other challenges includes the National Grid substation which shares the site.
"There is a big flat building in the middle – that is a National Grid substation. One of the real constraints we have got with developing the site is that staying," he said. "They are going to be our long-term tenant – they have a 99-year lease on that building.
"Another problem we have there is Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) is all over it. We have got two power stations on there – one which is buried under PFA, then we have the new one which closed in 2015."
