By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
An £8.619 million overspend on the new Gedling Access Road (GAR) was “not acceptable but probably predictable” given surging material costs associated with the pandemic, a leading councillor has said.
Nottinghamshire County Council confirmed last autumn that the long-awaited bypass had surged in cost since its initial valuation of £40 million.
The project, which started construction in January 2020, was due to open at the end of last year but was delayed until the coming spring due to Covid-related delays, site problems and staffing issues.
Council figures showed £4.47 million of extra costs relate to the pandemic, while the remaining £4.149 million is down to “challenges” including adverse weather and unexpected site conditions, and loss of working hours.
The additional spending took the road’s overall costs roughly 21 per cent above its budget.
Speaking at the time, leading council officers said “lessons have been learned” when it comes to oversight and spending on major investment schemes, with concerns raised in November over the ballooning figure.
And now further concerns have been raised after the council’s transport and environment committee, which is overseeing the access road, is forecast to be £1.1 million overspent on its budget overall.
It follows an additional £4.5 million being needed for the access road in this financial year, alongside £2.1 million in extra costs from the road maintenance and renewals budget.
The £6.6 million in extra costs is being offset by £1.7 million in “slippage” in the Active Travel Fund budget and a further £3.5 million from the Transforming Cities Fund which will be moved into the next financial year.
Speaking during the finance committee meeting on Monday (February 7), Councillor Lee Waters (Ash Ind), who represents Hucknall South, raised concerns about the overspend and asked councillors to address what “lessons have been learned”.
“I worry about rises in costs for Gedling Access Road contained within the Transport and Environment spend, responsible for a large part of its overspend,” he said.
“On November 23 last year, this council said ‘lessons have been learned’ about oversight on major infrastructure projects following the £8.619 million increase in the costs of building Gedling Access Road.
“Can you outline what lessons have been learned [and] whether the overspend has risen?”
In response, Cllr Richard Jackson (Con), chairman of the committee, said he and another councillor have been meeting with Via East Midlands – the council-run highways contractor – to oversee major projects like the GAR.
And he said many of the extra costs were Covid-related and “beyond our control”, praising the decision not to pause the project and believing it will offer more benefits than the additional £8.619 million it is costing.
“We are having very regular meetings [with Via East Midlands] on major capital projects and having a very careful watching brief on that,” he said.
“It’s worth noting that the majority of the overspends on the Gedling Access Road are Covid-related, which are beyond our control.
“Whilst we don’t like to see overspends on anything, I think the overspend on the GAR largely are not acceptable, but probably predictable in the current climate.
“The main thing is that road is still going to deliver benefits that significantly outweigh the costs with or without the overspend.”
Cllr Bruce Laughton (Con), deputy leader of the council, added: “We could well have mothballed the whole scheme, and that would have left the residents in [Gedling] with a half-finished road scheme that was having to then be restarted.”
Once complete, the 3.8km (2.36 miles) single-carriageway road will link the A612 Trent Valley Road and Nottingham Road with Mapperley Plains.
It will also ease congestion through Gedling Village and unlock development at the new £140 million, 1,050-home Chase Farm scheme on the former Gedling Colliery site.
Council figures estimate the scheme, once complete, will provide benefits worth at least £73 million to the county.
