THE new Rose Hill Community Centre could cost £478,000 more than planned, Oxford City Council has warned.

Despite attempts to keep the cost of the project down, the council has said it needs the extra money from its budget to help fund the project.

Now the extra funding needs to be approved by city councillors before a contract to build the community centre can be signed.

In the report Mark Spriggs, the city council’s strategic community centres co-ordinator, said the authority has been working with the bidders to bring the costs of the project down – a process known as “value engineering”.

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In the report he said: “Tenders for the construction of the community centre were received in March and were significantly over the approved budget of £3,485,000.

“To try to bring the cost of the scheme down to within budget the tenderers worked with the council’s external professional advisers and undertook a thorough value engineering process.”

This process meant that savings of £300,000 were made to the scheme, but this has not been enough and another £478,000 is needed on top of that.

Mr Spriggs added in the report: “There is limited scope to undertake additional value engineering and it is clear that an increase in the budget is required if we are to progress the current scheme.

“The pace with which costs are increasing in the construction market mean that if we were to redesign the scheme, any potential savings could be negated by further construction price increases.”

The new centre will bring together several existing services under one roof and will house a new doctor’s surgery, a community gym, a kitchen and a new police office.

Rose Hill residents decided to go ahead with the new centre after a referendum in November 2012 and it was given planning permission in October last year.

City councillor Ed Turner, executive board member for finance and councillor for Rose Hill, said the additional money would form part of a contingency fund for the project and might not all be spent.

He said: “The plan is to start on site next month. We need to make sure that the project is fully funded and that an adequate contingency is available.

“It is most unlikely all the money we are asking for will be spent.”

Half the extra money will come from the housing revenue account, which is made up of services provided for and paid for by council tenants, and half from the council’s general fund, used for day-to-day running of the council.

Rose Hill Youth Club funding: Page 25


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