A question mark over the viability of the new £45m Ayr Leisure Centre will remain until the Arran Mall is demolished, according to consultants brought in to assess the site.
And work would have to be carried out to reduce the risk of potentially dangerous pockets of methane gas found below ground.
Johnson Poole & Bloomer Limited (JPB) were commissioned by Hub South West Scotland Limited and BAM Construction Limited to prepare a Preliminary Geotechnical and Gas Emissions Report for the site.
The report was written to "appraise the ground conditions, groundwater and gas conditions at the site and to determine what impact these may have on proposed leisure facility land use for the site".
However, the contractor was unable to get access to fully carry out the required tests due to the existing buildings, including the footprint of the planned centre.
A total of 29 boreholes and three hand pits were made to examine the ground conditions, water levels and gas emissions since December 2020.
However, these could only be made around the open areas surrounding the existing buildings.
The surveyors identified pockets of gas, in particular methane, found underground as a real risk and have recommended work takes place to deal with the issue.
They said: “Ground gas can be a concern for several reasons; flammable gases may cause an explosion, accumulation of gases within poorly ventilated areas may lead to asphyxia or toxic gases may cause harm to those exposed to them.
“In this case, the peat generates little in the way of gases, but can be home to pockets with high levels of gas.”
It was also revealed that levels of methane and carbon dioxide had increased throughout the monitoring period and that it "may be for geotechnical purposes that the peat will be removed".
The report continued: “Remedial measures will be installed in all habitable buildings in order to protect the development from elevated ground gas emissions.”
South Ayrshire Tory leader Martin Dowey — who has pledged to scrap the leisure centre if he wins power at May’s election — said: “Not only are the administration disregarding the need for further excavations and potential fatal gases and risk of explosion, they are missing out the fact the council do not own the Arran Mall until full planning for the site is granted.”
South Ayrshire Council were unavailable for comment.
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