Firm wants extra £2million-plus for centre revamp (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Firm wants extra £2million-plus for centre revamp
10:00am Sunday 17th June 2012 in Local By Simon Moss
A DISPUTE has broken out over the final cost of refurbishing a Basingstoke shopping centre.
A report has revealed that Wates Construction, which carried out work on The Malls on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council last year, is seeking more than £2million in extra costs.
The council has so far spent £6.2m on the refurbishment, which included covered walkways and a landmark new entrance on Alencon Link. Finance chiefs have labelled the extra claims as “disappointing and concerning”.
Councillor John Izett, Cabinet member for property and finance, said: “The contractor is claiming £2.3m more in scheme costs than the currently valued position, but the council’s contract team disputes the scale and validity of the contractor claims.
“At this stage in a contract, it is not unusual for there to be a difference between client team and contractor over the value of works completed, and it is part of the contract process to determine final costs.
“It is nevertheless disappointing and concerning that the contractor has decided to make such a substantial claim. If there is any substance to this claim, we will need to understand how it has arisen.”
Cllr Izett praised the impact the improvements have made on the town centre, which was carried out without having to close The Malls during its year-long refurbishment.
He added there were a number of unforeseen problems, such as extra structural works to the lift shaft by The Anvil theatre, which were only uncovered when the area was stripped.
The council’s economic prosperity and performance committee meets today to discuss the council’s annual revenue and capital outturn, which includes the extra claims made by Wates.
A Wates spokesman said: “We are currently working with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and hope a resolution is reached by the end of the year.
“As a locally-based business, we are committed to working on great schemes which benefit the local Basingstoke community.”
Comments(13)
The _right_stuff
says...
1:07pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Thats a huge ammount of money. I thought that the contractor would need to have any extra expenditure authorised before carrying on any other works above the contactural ammount.
How does the council manage these projects ?
jbee37
says...
9:35am Mon 18 Jun 12
If the Council wanted to attract the 'aspirational' shopper to Basingstoke, then they've completly missed the point
Jonty11
says...
1:04pm Mon 18 Jun 12
The old shopping centre was awful!
We all know the council makes money from renting this space so it makes sense to keep it in a condition that shoppers like me, like - and retailers enjoy to.
As for the shops that are down there - don't be such a snob! Lots of people know and like Primark - you've also got Boots, Sainsburys and WHsmith - is there a problem with them too?
jbee37
says...
2:13pm Mon 18 Jun 12
All I'm saying is that to attract shoppers from other towns you need to offer something more than shops that sell shirts for £3. Ok Boots, Robert Dyas and Jessops are decent enough, but the rest are terrible.
Mayor_Joe_Quimby
says...
8:49pm Mon 18 Jun 12
Let's remember that the Malls is relatively new (1980/81), so we can't even blame the rubbish design on the concrete 60s.
Basingstoke spends far too much time - and money - trying to be like Reading.
Andover tries to be like Andover, Newbury tries to be like Newbury & Guildford tries to be like Guildford. There's a lesson in there for Basingstoke planners somewhere.
Features like our River, our Canal and our quaint shopping streets were confined to concrete and tarmac long ago - they made the wrong call.
jbee37
says...
1:12pm Tue 19 Jun 12
I agree that most towns now are clones of each other, but some still offer a better shopping experience. Reading has a House of Fraser and a John Lewis. Southampton has a John Lewis and Guildford also has a decent House of Fraser store. What do we have? British home stores and Debenhams!! Hardly cutting edge is it. Better still, get down to Westfield in Shepherds Bush. Fantastic shopping and not a Brighthouse in sight!!
Mayor_Joe_Quimby
says...
5:00pm Tue 19 Jun 12
Correct that from there back it is good ole 1960's concrete - including the River Loddon, now in a concrete conduit under Festival Place.
When opened, The Malls were a very welcome attraction to the town. We had stores like 'Owen & Owen', a huge 'C&A' and town was buzzing. The knock on effect was the old town emptied and became a bit of a Ghost Town, as shops hurried to move to The Malls (Boots, WH Smith, Sainsburys).
The sad truth is retail is now starting to die - a victim of the internet. It will rise again one day, but only after we get fed up with a lack of competition from dominant online retailers when the net has been so heavily taxed and legislated that nobody will be able to afford an online presence.
Quimbo
says...
5:30pm Tue 19 Jun 12
Good - that'll be the end of you! Roll on the revolution!
Mayor_Joe_Quimby
says...
11:53am Wed 20 Jun 12
Quimbo
says...
6:34pm Wed 20 Jun 12
Mayor_Joe_Quimby wrote:...said the coward.
Chicken......
robertspet8
says...
3:49pm Wed 27 Jun 12
The _right_stuff
says...
11:37pm Wed 27 Jun 12
robertspet8 wrote:The real 'The _right_stuff' has only one space between the e and _ (underscore) and no capital R or S.
Does anyone else think that the contractors should finish the job properly before they ask for any money?
I do robertspet8.
Mayor_Joe_Quimby says...
1:07pm Sun 17 Jun 12