Plans to bulldoze Swadlincote Fire Station could face a setback as the cost of work to build a multi-million pound community hub in its place is more than expected, a new report reveals.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service had budgeted £2.7 million for the cost of work but it has been revealed that the lowest tender for building the centre is £250,000 over that final figure, forcing fire chiefs to consider raising the overall budget by £300,000 to £3 million.
The rise in the total has been blamed on an increase in costs for labour and materials.
The fire service has been given permission to demolish the 60-year-old Swadlincote Fire Station, in Civic Way, and create a temporary site while it builds a community hub. The current station has been deemed not suitable to meet the needs of modern firefighting. There is also a list of outstanding maintenance work costing an estimated £400,000.
The new hub is expected to include provision for community and youth engagement/cadet uses, including potential NHS use of the gym, with general fire station accommodation provision. Discussions have also taken place with East Midlands Ambulance Service with a view to it making the hub its home for crews based in the area.
The new hub will accommodate four fire engines and all the support facilities for staff. The new building would also provide community facilities with an independent access and meeting room. There will also be access to a gym. While the number of car parking spaces will be increased from 18 to 36, the number of fire staff will remain the same with five full-time and 18 part time; the equivalent of 10 full-time members of staff.
However, at a meeting of the fire authority on Thursday, September 28, it was revealed the building could now cost the fire authority more cash than was expected.
In its property programme report, it said: "Tenders for the new Swadlincote Fire Station have been received and were opened on September 11 and are currently being evaluated by the project team to determine which bid is the most economically advantageous.
"It should be noted that the budget allowance within the overall project budget is £2.7 million, however the lowest unevaluated tender received is some £250,000 in excess of this figure.
"Therefore, to enable the scheme to proceed as designed and to allow for potential tender inflation pressures on the scheme to create the temporary fire station accommodation, a prudent increase of £300,000 in the overall budget will be required.
"There is no scope within the scheme to make meaningful cost reductions as the build has been designed to meet operational requirements. The consultant project reports that initial examination of the tender figures indicate that they are broadly in line with the original budget estimate, save for the mechanical and electrical costs, which have shown a significant increase across the board.
"It would appear that a combination of the budget being set almost two years ago, the increase in construction work available in the market place and cost increases in both labour and materials over the last two years, driven by shortages of skilled labour, weaker currency increasing materials prices etc, has resulted in the tender shortfall."
Now an information report will be presented at the December fire authority meeting, detailing the outcome of the tender evaluation process and the selected preferred bidder. Work is due to start on site in late January 2018.
What has happened so far
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service came under fire in 2014 after it cut the number of full-time firefighters in a bid to slash £4 million from its budget, after Swadlincote Fire Station was called out 'only' 300 times in 2014. The service said that proactive fire prevention such as smoke alarm tests had led to a reduction in need.
The hub plan was unveiled as the fire service sold its former firefighter homes behind the existing fire station for £875,000 which will help pay for the new building. The homes were left empty after the number of full-time firefighters was cut, with Swadlincote covered by additional retained, part-time firefighters instead of having the fire station maned at night.
