News: Rotherham markets revamp costs rise again, reach £40m
The cost of completing a long-awaited revamp of the markets in Rotherham town centre has risen again and is now at £40.89m, nearly double original estimates.
Rotherham Council is asking South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) for a further £6.5m on top of the £3.9m already approved.
The "significant prescence of RAAC and of asbestos" in the building, which opened in 1971, is being blamed.
The redevelopment of the Drummond Street site also includes a modern central library, a new community hub, improved public spaces, and links to the town centre and college. The renovations will build upon the existing mix of shops and services with the addition of a new food hub and dining area on the first floor. The outdoor market will become a flexible space which can be used for exhibitions and events when required. The second floor will host contemporary office spaces for charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups.
With £4m already spent on the project before a spade hit the ground, Henry Boot began a £2.1m enabling works contract at the end of 2023 and have since made progress on the construction which has a total contract price of £36m.
Second only to the £47m Forge Island development in terms of town centre investment, the revamp was originally scheduled to finish in December 2025 but this was pushed back to 2027. When government funding was originally confirmed, the estimated cost of the project was £22m.
Having secured government money (£8.9m) from the Future High Streets Fund in 2020 for the project, a funding gap of £9.8m was identified in 2022, largely due to the impact of inflation on the project delivery costs.
Now another funding gap has come to light.
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Papers to the SYMCA board state that costs have risen as further investigative works were carried out through the design development process and prior to the council entering into contract with Henry Boot.
The paper adds: "Further allowances for utility services needed to be made, as well as allowances to deal with the significant presence of RAAC and of asbestos within the structure of the building. This brings the revised total project costs to £40.9m. RMBC [Rotherham Council] have increased their contribution but the additional £6.5m requested from the MCA (bringing the total to £9.9m), is to be used to address the viability gap for the overall scheme."
Rotherham Council's plans involve keeping the indoor market building and refurbishing and reconfiguring the space alongside repairs to the roof.
RAAC is reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, a lightweight form of concrete used in schools, colleges and other building construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s. It has been recognised that the in-service performance is poor with cracking, excessive displacements and durability all being raised as concerns.
Without the additional funding, which is set to come from SYMCA's gainshare pot, the market would be made safe and not redeveloped. This was discounted in favour of redevelopmedt with the report adding: "There is a clear justification of the preferred option as being the only one likely to meet the strategic aims of the project and the alternatives likely to cause the footfall to fall further leading to the eventual closure of the market hall."
Gainshare funding refers to the money committed to South Yorkshire through the Devolution Deal agreed by the MCA, South Yorkshire local authorities and government.
A breakdown of the secured funding shows that £8,909,226 is coming from the government's Future Highstreet Fund, £13,865,012 from Rotherham Council's Town Investment Fund and £8,219,311 from Rotherham Council’s Capital Programme.
When asked last year about the rising costs of the redevelopment, Cllr. Chris Read said it would be "bizarre" to scrap the scheme and take away the opportunity to follow the likes of Barnsley, Sheffield and Doncaster and create a bustling hub in the town centre.
SYMCA's board is due to discuss the plans later this month.
Images: RMBC / Tom Austen
Rotherham Council is asking South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) for a further £6.5m on top of the £3.9m already approved.
The "significant prescence of RAAC and of asbestos" in the building, which opened in 1971, is being blamed.
The redevelopment of the Drummond Street site also includes a modern central library, a new community hub, improved public spaces, and links to the town centre and college. The renovations will build upon the existing mix of shops and services with the addition of a new food hub and dining area on the first floor. The outdoor market will become a flexible space which can be used for exhibitions and events when required. The second floor will host contemporary office spaces for charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups.
With £4m already spent on the project before a spade hit the ground, Henry Boot began a £2.1m enabling works contract at the end of 2023 and have since made progress on the construction which has a total contract price of £36m.
Second only to the £47m Forge Island development in terms of town centre investment, the revamp was originally scheduled to finish in December 2025 but this was pushed back to 2027. When government funding was originally confirmed, the estimated cost of the project was £22m.
Having secured government money (£8.9m) from the Future High Streets Fund in 2020 for the project, a funding gap of £9.8m was identified in 2022, largely due to the impact of inflation on the project delivery costs.
Now another funding gap has come to light.
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Papers to the SYMCA board state that costs have risen as further investigative works were carried out through the design development process and prior to the council entering into contract with Henry Boot.
The paper adds: "Further allowances for utility services needed to be made, as well as allowances to deal with the significant presence of RAAC and of asbestos within the structure of the building. This brings the revised total project costs to £40.9m. RMBC [Rotherham Council] have increased their contribution but the additional £6.5m requested from the MCA (bringing the total to £9.9m), is to be used to address the viability gap for the overall scheme."
Rotherham Council's plans involve keeping the indoor market building and refurbishing and reconfiguring the space alongside repairs to the roof.
RAAC is reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, a lightweight form of concrete used in schools, colleges and other building construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s. It has been recognised that the in-service performance is poor with cracking, excessive displacements and durability all being raised as concerns.
Without the additional funding, which is set to come from SYMCA's gainshare pot, the market would be made safe and not redeveloped. This was discounted in favour of redevelopmedt with the report adding: "There is a clear justification of the preferred option as being the only one likely to meet the strategic aims of the project and the alternatives likely to cause the footfall to fall further leading to the eventual closure of the market hall."
Gainshare funding refers to the money committed to South Yorkshire through the Devolution Deal agreed by the MCA, South Yorkshire local authorities and government.
A breakdown of the secured funding shows that £8,909,226 is coming from the government's Future Highstreet Fund, £13,865,012 from Rotherham Council's Town Investment Fund and £8,219,311 from Rotherham Council’s Capital Programme.
When asked last year about the rising costs of the redevelopment, Cllr. Chris Read said it would be "bizarre" to scrap the scheme and take away the opportunity to follow the likes of Barnsley, Sheffield and Doncaster and create a bustling hub in the town centre.
SYMCA's board is due to discuss the plans later this month.
Images: RMBC / Tom Austen
6 comments:
In other countries it's called corruption, and we belittle them for it.
Do we?
How does costs increasing due to RAAC and asbestos equate to corruption?
Nearly 41 million for a market no one was really using anyway.....seems good value.
The RAAC was known about years ago
Via conspiracy theory and a jaundiced outlook
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