Bridgend Council’s Cabinet is set to authorise the latest change to the contract for the redevelopment of Maesteg Town Hall (pdf).
The project has been beset by delays caused by a combination of factors including the poor state of the roof (which has needed to be completely replaced), Covid-19 restrictions, Brexit and inflation.
As things stand, the project is also significantly over budget. When the plans were first put forward, the estimated cost was expected to be between £4-5million.
At the start of construction in February/March 2020 the value of the contract increased to £6.2million. This was further increased to just over £7million in October 2020.
BCBC’s Cabinet is now being asked to approve another increase in the contract value to just over £7.7million. This figure is only £500,000 short of a “worst case scenario” identified before work started in 2020.
The cost increase has been blamed on the discovery of dry rot, lime plastering work and various other smaller elements that wouldn’t have been identified beforehand without “disruptive/destructive surveys”.
The good news is the money has already been found from additional external grants and the council’s capital budget so it’s not coming from anywhere else. However, there is a chance that the decision could be called-in by one of the scrutiny committees.
Although steady progress has been made to date, the renovation is now not expected to be finished until summer 2023. The original plans were for it to be finished within 16 months.
