The new Dunedin Hospital is years away from completion, but the first signs of progress on the multimillion-dollar project can be seen this week.
On Monday, Scope Group began tearing down two derelict buildings on the former Cadbury car park site, a small portion of the larger factory site bought by the Ministry of Health last year as part of the hospital project.
Demolition and building work on the former factory site are still many months away, but the two buildings on the Castle St site needed to be cleared for health and safety reasons, a Ministry of Health spokeswoman said.
''It is another milestone in the new Dunedin Hospital project.''
Planning work continues for the hospital, and the Government is still in negotiation to buy properties on the Wilson car parking block further up the road, which has also been earmarked for the new hospital.
Resource consent was not required for the current demolition work, as the foundations of the buildings will not be removed, and no soil will be disturbed or earthworks carried out.
