At this month’s full council meeting, councillors discussed a request to redirect just under £1.2million in capital funds towards the long-delayed refurbishment of Maesteg Town Hall (pdf).
Work on the project began in March 2020, immediately hitting delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Additionally, further work was needed on the clock tower, the roof, lime plastering and to rectify dry rot.
The original cost of just under £6.2million (in 2019) has now ballooned to just under £10million. There’s acceptance by the BCBC that the bill may increase further, as the additional money is described as “interim funding”.
The “worst case scenario” figure identified before work started was around £8.2million.
The £1.2million will come from the budget allocated towards a new council depot – which has itself been delayed for several years.
BCBC is also applying for an extra £316,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which could cut the redirected funds to around £860,000.
Cabinet Member: “No blank cheque for contractors”; “opening up the building” caused dry rot spread
Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning & Regeneration, Cllr. Rhys Goode (Lab, Nantymoel), told councillors that most of the funding has come from external sources such as legacy EU funding and Heritage Lottery Fund. BCBC is committed to finishing the project, which benefits Maesteg and the wider borough while restoring an important historic building.
He added that given the council’s financial pressures, there was “no blank cheque” for contractors. Negotiations are ongoing to achieve value for money.
In response to a later question, Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr. Hywel Williams (Lab, Blackmill) was content the financial management of the project was good enough, with the council having followed the best professional advice.
Cllr. Alex Williams (Ind, Pencoed & Penprysg) noted that many of the issues identified, such as dry rot, were nothing new. Why was it necessary to undertake a new survey in Spring 2023?
He was also concerned the word “interim” was used to describe this extra funding, because there was a risk the administration would “come back to us in 6 months” asking for more money.
Corporate Director for Communities, Janine Nightingale, said the April 2023 survey was to ensure there was no other dry rot, however, more was identified. Most of this was “non-structural”, but in the process of opening the building up for refurbishment, some “structural” dry rot had spread.
Council accused of “taking a gamble that didn’t pay off”; renovation guarantees building’s survival
Cllr. Ian Spiller (Ind, Bryntirion, Laleston & Merthyr Mawr) asked about the future of the depot project.
He was told the council’s preference was to move from Waterton, but it’s no longer an option. Working with Natural Resources Wales, BCBC is pursuing upgrades to the existing site while dealing with flooding and drainage issues (which resulted in Parc Afon Ewenni being pulled from the Local Development Plan).
Cllr. Martin Williams (Ind, Coity Higher) wanted an answer as to why, only a month after approving changes to the capital programme, the situation had changed so suddenly.
Cllr. Steven Bletsoe (Ind, Bridgend Central) asked whether BCBC had “taken a gamble that didn’t pay off”. There was an option of undertaking in-depth surveys which might have rendered the project unaffordable, but instead, BCBC decided to “find things out as they went along”.
Cllr. Goode – who wasn’t part of the previous administration – was confident surveys were undertaken to their greatest extent. However, the building has a history of things being added to it, so when they were removed more issues emerged.
Cllr. Goode stressed the renovation was necessary to bring the town hall up to the standard needed to “guarantee its survival” given its condition.
In a recorded vote, the redirection of funding was approved by (my count): 35 votes to 3 with 9 abstentions.
Opposition: “Where does this stop?”
Immediately following the meeting, Independent opposition groups issued a joint press release:
“As scrutineers of the BCBC administration, we have a duty to ensure that public funds are invested in a responsible way to achieve value for money for the public purse. We must also express our concern and disappointment that this historic grade 2 listed building is still not open to the public, four years after the beginning of the project and at a cost which is pushing £10 million….
“Where does this stop?…. At the moment, it seems like we are writing a blank cheque and that the project will be delayed further. This would be unacceptable, and frustration is growing among the residents of Maesteg who dearly want this building to be open at the earliest possible opportunity.
“After what will be expenditure of almost £10 million of public funds, there is probably no option but to complete this project, but we will ensure that on the completion of this project, it is scrutinised in detail to examine where we can learn the lessons from the clear mistakes which have been made, so that they aren’t repeated on other multi-million-pound projects such as the regeneration of Porthcawl Pavilion which is on the horizon.”
– Issued on behalf of Cllr. Alex Williams, Cllr. Amanda Williams (Ind, Coity Higher) and Cllr. Freya Bletsoe (Ind, Oldcastle)
