Demolition machinery is getting increasingly closer to the main area where chocolate was made in Dunedin’s former Cadbury factory.
The factory closed in 2018 and the site is to be used for the city’s planned new hospital.
Preliminary work for demolition started in two separate areas on March 29.
Demolition of the Cadbury crumb plant and the raw materials building has started and is expected to take four to six weeks. Clearing the raw materials building would allow access to the centre of the site to set up a level platform for a large crane to undertake demolition of the main chocolate-making building, a Ministry of Health spokesman said.
That would be followed by removal of the silos and then demolition of the rest of the site.
The work is expected to be completed in about March next year.
The ministry said roads around the planned new hospital would stay open to traffic during demolition. However, footpaths next to the site in Cumberland and Castle Sts would remain closed.
Noise and vibration levels would be minimal initially, but there would be some increase in noise as the work progressed.
Demolition consent was granted in November.
Cadbury’s former distribution warehouse was cleared in mid-2020.
The former dairy and machine house building at the site, considered to have heritage value, will not be demolished.
