Colne Market project has been scaled back
Pendle's Deputy Leader, Cllr David Whipp (Lib Dem), has criticised the former Conservative administration after a funding gap of up to £700k emerged in Colne's Levelling Up Fund projects.
At May's Executive Council meeting it was revealed that budgets for three out of four of Colne's Levelling Up Fund (LUF) projects have overspent, with Muni costs alone increasing by over £600k.
The four projects on the Municipal Hall, Hippodrome, Little Theatre and Market Hall were the recipients of £6.5m of Levelling Up Funding promised by the Government after the cancellation of the HS2 northern leg.
Originally the projects were chosen by the previous Conservative Borough Council and budgets were set at:
- Municipal Hall - £1.8m (£1.5m LUF)
- Little Theatre - £315k (£315k LUF)
- Pendle Hippodrome - £1.6m (£1.5m LUF)
- Market Hall - £4.8m (£3.1m LUF)
but estimates now show a total cost of each project as:
- Municipal Hall - £2.4m - £620k over budget - Completion July 2024
- Little Theatre - £315k - £516 over budget - Project complete
- Pendle Hippodrome - £1.6m - £46k under budget - Completion June 2024
- Market Hall - £3.5m - project scaled back from demolition and rebuild to refurbishment due to funding issues - Completion March 2025
Councillors were given three options with how to deal with the funding shortfall.
- Fund the works to the specifications of the contract, reusing old fixtures and furnishings - £423k
- Fund the overspend to ensure all works are complete to the best standard - £700k
- Fund the works to the original budget and scale back works and Market Hall project - £114k (work already carried out over budget)
Cllr David Whipp (Lib Dem) looked exasperation as he spoke:
"I've said from the get-go that the Levelling Up Fund scheme in Colne, was grossly underfunded. The Council, under the previous administration, bid for £6.5m - the average allocation during that round of funding was £16.5m, and we really ought to have been bidding for £16.5m, because wherever I look in the Colne schemes I see that there was inadequate consideration of what the true costs of these projects would be."
Cllr David Whipp
Regarding the Muni, Cllr D. Whipp said:
"With the condition survey prior to bidding it was impossible to anticipate the increased costs, but anybody who's started work on an old building would put their finger in the air and add quite a bit in, on the basis that things always cost more than what you expect."
Considering the options on the table Cllr D. Whipp said:
"We've started so we'll finish - we've got to finish. But if we hadn't been constrained by that ridiculously low bid in the first place, then all of these schemes could have been properly budgeted for and the funding there in place to actually do some of the structural work and the repairs that are detailed here... ...so I'm not best pleased and I think there are a whole series of questions and I'm sure other Councillors will want to probe on those..."
Cllr D. Whipp PROPOSES to approve the already incurred overspend and choose Option 2 from the list above.
Cllr Dorothy Lord (Lib Dem) SECONDS the motion.
Cllr Mohammad Iqbal (Ind) asked where the additional money will come from considering the tight finances at the Council.
Damon Lawrenson, Director of Resources, said the Council will need to borrow the money to complete the funding of these schemes and this could be from either external sources or Council reserves.
Questions were posed about why the overspend has only just come to light given the oversight from Colne Area Committee.
Phillip Spurr, Director of Place, clarified
"Reports have been going on a monthly basis to Colne Area Committee, but to be entirely clear, those reports have actually reported to the Area Committee that were looking to underspend - so it's only very recently that this situation has come to light, it is more than unfortunate, it's a very, very challenging and difficult situation. There will be an internal investigation and audit to look at this."
Phillip Spurr
Pendle Conservatives were approached for comment but have not responded.
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