The Port Chalmers Yacht Club has found itself caught in the asbestos crossfire.
And it is not alone, as more clubs and tenants find themselves grappling with the fallout from asbestos in the buildings they use.
The yacht club has leased the ex-Sims building at Port Chalmers from the Dunedin City Council since 1994, allowing members to store yachts and equipment in a building covered by an asbestos-based roof.
But after 22 years of uninterrupted use, the locks were suddenly changed in April and club members barred from entering, after tests confirmed the presence of asbestos fibres.
The discovery was followed soon after by the closure of the Dunedin Gymnastics Academy, in Willis St, also due to asbestos.
Dunedin City Council asset and commercial manager Tom Dyer told the Otago Daily Times the closure of the former Sims building to yacht club members was a precaution "just to keep everyone safe''.
The council had been working to decontaminate the building and yachts and equipment inside it, before releasing the items to their owners.
The fate of the building itself was not yet known, but the council estimated the cost of cleaning items and replacing the asbestos roof at up to $220,000.
Club commodore Richard Hawkins accepted the need for the work and said the club had no complaints about the council's approach.
But not everyone was convinced the council was acting appropriately.
Club life member and committee member Graeme Wall said the council had been aware of the asbestos since 1993, when it commissioned a report on the state of the building.
"They've known about it all this time,'' he said.
"Either they've gone overboard now, or they didn't [care] about our health before. You can't have it both ways.''
Mr Wall had boats inside the building, but said he was angry the council had asked other club members to sign a waiver before their property was released.
Mr Dyer, in an email to Mr Wall on April 16, had suggested the waiver on the advice of a council lawyer.
It asked members to acknowledge their property might not be completely asbestos-free when returned, and agree not to bring any future claim against the council "for losses or injuries that might result''.
The council had since backtracked, but Mr Wall said the request would have seen members ‘‘signing away any rights of recourse back to the city over health issues''.
Mr Dyer said that "wasn't the intention at all''.
"You can't contract out health and safety.''
The club had wanted the speedy release of yachts and equipment for a race, and the waiver sought only to acknowledge doing so "presents some risks''.
Mr Hawkins said Mr Wall was "passionate'' about the situation, but after initial difficulties, the club accepted the council was doing its best.
"The DCC is doing as much as they can with what they can. It's a very complex situation getting everyone out of there and ... with health and safety rules ... that's the way it's got to be.
"What else do you do?''
