Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Cost of new centre rises by £12 million
THE cost of Dundee’s controversial new regional sports centre has spiralled by more than £12 million, the Tele can reveal.
Plans for the facility were approved by Dundee City Council in August.
The centre will provide a training and competitive venue for regional clubs and squads.
City councillors gave the Caird Park project the thumbs-up in a unanimous vote earlier this year — despite hearing from five local objectors, who believed the project shouldn’t be approved.
The original cost of the centre was £19.6 million, but the Tele can now reveal that the figure is set to rise to £32.125m.
Members of the council’s policy and resources committee have been asked to approve the extra spend on Monday.
A report to go before the committee said: “The increase in budget allowance of £12.525m is to reflect the substantially changed and increased scope of the project over the original scheme.”
The report said the increase was also required through “ongoing design redevelopments” that have arisen, including a new £5m energy centre.
It added: “The extra cost also includes energy efficient tensile building structures for the indoor 3G pitch and athletics building, increased floor areas, furniture and sports equipment, and upgrades to the athletics track and velodrome.
“In addition, i nflation over the extended period of design development, current market conditions and a weaker pound also account for the increase. The additional funding of £12.525m has been included in the Capital Plan 2018-23 and is funded from a combination of additional grants.”
Jim Malone, one of the project’s main objectors, said: “We can only feel vindicated in our opposition.
“A council which is this year already hugely over budget, according to its own data, has commissioned a project originally costed at £10m and it has now costed more than three times that.”
Lynn Watson, of campaign group Care for Caird, said: “We pointed out so many holes in the plans over a long period of time and councillors ignored us.”
Kevin Keenan, leader of the opposition Labour group, said he would be asking why this project had spiralled, adding: “This is a massive increase and I will be asking officers why this has come about.”
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