Four-year impasse over leaky roof at Ainslie shops due to heritage listing

Her massage clinic at the Ainslie shops has been plagued for about four years by a leaking roof, with water known to spurt out of light fittings, down stairs, even into massage rooms.

While Ms Hely has plugged up the worst of it, the water keeps coming back. She says a long-running impasse over the building's heritage listing means its owner cannot replace the roof as the original tiles are no longer in production.

For the past decade, owner Manuel Xyrakis says he has been seeking approval from the ACT Heritage Council to put on a new tin roof for the stretch of shops, which also house a laundromat and his family's IGA supermarket.

A $40,000 repair job in 2008 didn't solve the problem and other subsequent touch-ups have made little impact, he said.

At Baby and Bump Massage, freshly repaired ceilings are already crumbling in corners as the water rushes back through.

"For most people, the rain's relaxing, for me it's a panic of 'is the shop leaking again? Is the computer ok?'" Ms Hely said.

"And we're a massage clinic, you don't want people walking in and seeing big marks...The electricians couldn't even guarantee the light fittings were safe to use.

"It's outrageous."

Fortunately, Ms Hely said, leaks in the massage rooms had been kept at bay by repairs for now.

When asbestos was removed from the flat above Edgar's Inn further down the strip last year, Mr Xyrakis said he had arranged with Worksafe ACT for the roof spaces of the shops to be cleaned at the same time as the roof was replaced.

The clean-out and roof replacement was to take at least two weeks in February, during which time Ms Hely and other tenants had planned to move out of the building.

But Mr Xyrakis says the Heritage Council had since stepped in to curtail the plan, on the grounds he needed approval directly from them on any change to the roof.

An Access Canberra spokeswoman said WorkSafe ACT was in "regular contact with the owners of the premise, including meeting this month, and is facilitating discussions with heritage about roof replacement".

It is understood WorkSafe officials were also considering in December whether or not to use their power to order the roof replacement in the interests of public health.

A spokeswoman for ACT Heritage said no formal application to change the roof had yet been made by the Ainslie shop owners.

"The ACT Heritage Council has twice provided advice to the Ainslie shop owners on the heritage requirements of replacing the roof," she said.

"However, changing the roof material (for example, from tiles to Colorbond) requires ACT Heritage Council approval to ensure heritage values of the precinct are preserved."

Mr Xyrakis said he had hired a heritage consultant and architect for the proposal, and had been "back and forth" with heritage many times on how to fix the roof.

"I just want this sorted, my tenants want peace of mind, they want it sorted and the people of Ainslie do too," Mr Xyrakis said.

"I'm hoping heritage will see this as a matter of urgency."

The Access Canberra spokeswoman said no safety concerns relating to water entering the building had yet been referred to WorkSafe, and it was the responsibility of its owner to ensure the premise was safe.

WorkSafe inspectors regularly attended the Ainslie shops and the public could "have confidence the complex remains safe", she said.

"The roof remediation and asbestos management plans support safety in the short to medium term with demolition of the affected premises the only enduring solution in the longer term," the spokeswoman said.

Ms Hely and her partner said the building's heritage listing had been "like a curse" for the massage clinic, which already took a hit after Mr Fluffy asbestos was found above Edgar's Inn.

Confusion between Ms Healy's clinic and another therapist affected drove "half" her clientele out the door, she said.

"It killed us. But it's safe [here], and we want people to come back and feel welcome. This is not what people want to see."

with Lachlan Roberts