About $40,000 a year was being spent maintaining unused buildings at Southland Hospital and the cost was likely to escalate until they were demolished, Southland District Health Board chief financial officer Robert Mackway-Jones said.

A demolition plan was being drawn up and should be finished next month.

The estimated cost of demolishing the buildings was about $2 million.

Some delays were likely because part of the plan would involve setting up a landfill on site where rubble from the old buildings could be dumped, Mr. Mackway-Jones told board members at their monthly meeting on Thursday.

Establishing a landfill would have to be publicly notified and getting consent under that process could take between three and four months.

Another delay might occur because the board was hoping to sell some surplus buildings to offset demolition costs.

While the buildings remained, the board faced the risk of increased security costs and the expenses involved with keeping the buildings safe would also rise over time, he said.

Deputy Chairman Neville Cook said any delays should be minimized because it was money the board should be spending on health, not on empty buildings.

Chairman Dennis Cairns said the old hospital was starting to deteriorate and the board looked forward to getting the demolition plan.

"We've built a new hospital but the project isn't over until we've got rid of the old one," Mr. Cairns said.

The new $70 million Southland Hospital opened two years ago.