Desley Simpson: Auckland deputy mayor on the War Memorial Museum closing down after asbestos discovery

Auckland's War Memorial Museum still doesn't have a re-opening date after closing on Saturday when asbestos dust was found in multiple areas.

The dust isn't air-borne - and has been found in the older part of the museum and Grand Foyer, where the emergency exits are located.

Staff have been working remotely.

Deputy mayor Desley Simpson says the museum's doing the right thing and putting safety first. 

"They're working under a licenced asbestos assessor to actually get rid of it." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now Maris Beestos has been discovered in Auckland's War Memorial Museum.
The site has been shut since Saturday, with staff working
from home. Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson has had a
briefing this afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Is with us.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Now, Hey, Desley, good a, Heather, how are you? I'm
very well, thank you. Do we know when it's going
to open? Look, no we don't.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I think the museum and staff and the board are
doing the right thing keeping it closed, putting the health
and safety of both Aucklanders and visitors first. So I
think if we go back and look what happened, it
was first found when they were looking at preparatory work
around upgrading the Maori Court. And then what happens is

(00:41):
the way you test. They found us Beestos, and the
way you test is you take it from the point
that it's found and you move out, like an onion,
further out. And then they found it in the Pacific Galleries,
which was adjacent to the Maori Court. And then that
wasn't too much of a problem because I could close
both those areas off and still keep the museum open.

(01:03):
But then they found it in the Grand Foyer which
was next to the Pacific Galleries, and the problem there
was it was part of the fire and emergency exit.
So they managed to find a fire engineer, thank you
whoever that was, who worked all over the weekend and
signed off a secondary evacuation plan because the backup to

(01:25):
getting out from the Grand Foyer was through the two
courts that have been there had been the Pacific Galleries
of the Maari Court, right, so you had to find
another one. So that's one problem they've got. The second
problem they've got is getting rid of it, and of
course they're working under a licensed asbestos assessor to actually

(01:45):
get rid of it. And I want to just say
really clearly, there is no evidence of it being airborne.
And I think that's really important, Heather, because you know,
the way the air conditioning works at the museum is
very complex. On one stage, they've got to keep you know,
air conditioning people, but actually they have to have humidity
levels et cetera for the obviously the tongue and the

(02:07):
exhibitions and the really old artifacts that they have there.
So it's really good that it hasn't been found to
be airborne based on all their testing, but it has
gathered on sort of high shelves and mentals and stuff
like that.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Thanks for Thanks for the detailed Disley. What did you
support the co governance and the White tarkeetys?

Speaker 2 (02:27):
I think I supported it going out for consultation asking
people what they thought.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Why did you just laugh about that? Is this getting awkward? Well?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
No, I thought we're talking about the museum. That's also
I was just trying to remember.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, yeah, and also are you running for mayor?

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I will make a call on that at the end
of the month or at least stuff one weekend.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
You know already tell us No, I'm not going to
tell you. That's a yes, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to
tell you.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Appreciate it. Simpson TV, Mayor of Aalkland.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
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