Issue - meetings

The Action Sheet arising from the meeting of the Regeneration Scrutiny Committee held on 8^th December, 2021 was submitted.

Trinity Chapel

The Service Manager Regeneration Opportunities provided a verbal update, and undertook to circulate a briefing note for Members to include costs.

Following discussions at the last meeting and Members’ request for information on the costs of the project, the Officer reported that the acquisition costs for the building in 2009 was £95k, and was undertaken because the building was in disrepair and was becoming an issue within the Town Centre.  The building was originally acquired with a view to accommodate an indoor market on the ground floor and business incubation units on the upper two levels.

The project was developed and the tender price was £740k.  Funding was secured via the Convergence Programme along with match funding from other sources.  However, the Officer reported that two significant issues had impacted on the timescale and costs of the project, i.e. the requirement for a build-over agreement with Welsh Water which delayed work for 5 months, and discovery of a further water main on site which delayed the project for a further 6 weeks.  These unforeseen issues resulted in the original tender price increasing to £1.2m total cost.  The deficit was grant funded through the Vibrant and Viable Places Programme.

In response to a question raised by a Member the Officer confirmed that the costs for the next phase and the library building was £900k.

A Member expressed concern regarding the escalating costs of the project and felt that the drainage issues should have been identified sooner if more research of the building had been undertaken.

Members said the costs were significant and felt that the original plans for the building would have been more appropriate for the Town Centre.  A Member also asked whether the initial cost of £740k included internal works.

In response the Officer confirmed that the £740k was intended to cover internal and external works, but did not include the costs for the fit-out of the building.

A Member said this was the second occasion where the Council had incurred additional costs for trunk sewerage or water mains issues on major developments and questioned Welsh Water’s responsibility in terms of keeping records.

Another Member asked when completion of the project could be expected.

The Officer confirmed that discussions were ongoing with Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Council were pushing for the programme to commence as soon as possible.  She said in terms of Welsh Government’s budget profile the majority of spend was expected in the next financial year, so completion of the project was expected in 2022.

The Chair referred to the briefing note to be circulated to Members and asked that a timeline of the project to date be included.

The Committee AGREED, subject to the foregoing, that the Action Sheet be noted.