A Scottish Government reporter has been warned to expect “potential hazards” ahead of a planned visit to the fire-ravaged Strathmartine Hospital this week.
Dozens of firefighters were called to the hospital on April 13 when a dramatic blaze gutted the former mental health hospital’s main building.
It is at the heart of a major housing plan, whose future is in the hands of Scottish ministers.
Liz Kerr, of the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA), is due to visit the site on Thursday and has been told of a “minor safety incident” which took place when Angus Council’s own building standards team inspected the debris.
The deterioration of the Strathmartine building has kept it on the authority’s enforcement list since the beginning of 2008, but in the wake of the fire its condition is now critical.
Among the dangers Ms Kerr has been urged to be aware of as she inspects the blackened shell are uncovered manholes, ducts and gullies, timber with protruding or unsecured nails, screws and glass and loose roof slates.
In addition the structure has been materially damaged by the fire, which investigators believe was deliberately started.
Firefighters battled for more than six hours to bring the fire under control as it tore through floor after floor of the historic building.
It left the already unsafe structure in a desperate condition and plans to convert the B-listed hospital block into 24 flats in tatters.
It is now likely that unsafe parts of the structure could be demolished by the end of this month, ahead of any decision by the Scottish Government.
Developers were controversially granted planning permission for the prime development site late last year.
Scottish ministers notified the council they were “calling in” the application in the wake of the decision.
In addition to plans for the conversion on the hospital block, which will now have to be reassessed in the wake of its devastation, they also aim to create 198 new homes in the grounds.