The old aviary area at the Ashburton Domain will be off limits next week while buildings no longer used for birds are demolished.

Access points and pathways to the aviary area will be closed off during the demolition work, which is expected to start on Wednesday 23 March and take several days.

Ashburton District Council Community Services Group Manager Steve Fabish said a specialist crew would be on site to deal with asbestos that had been found in the soffit of one of the buildings.

“There are special requirements to deal with materials containing asbestos but all the demolition is able to be contained in the old aviary area.

“People will still be able to access the bowling club, children’s playground and the rest of the domain, which are a safe distance away.”

Some wire netting and posts have already been removed and are being reused by the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust to create aviaries for the endangered kakariki, an orange fronted parakeet that is coming back from the brink of extinction.

“For nearly 20 years, the trust has been running a captive breeding programme to grow the population and parts of our old aviaries have been used to create space for juvenile kakariki to grow until they can be released into the wild. We’re pleased to have been able to donate equipment for this good project,” Mr Fabish said.

Most of the birds in Council’s aviary were rehomed to Timaru last March. The longterm plan for the area is to build an informal educational wildlife garden and play area, building on the existing butterfly garden.