A £34million project which will see a new A82 relief road is at “high risk” of increased costs – with concerns it may have to be stripped back.
Planning permission in principle has been agreed for the new road, as well as a major commercial and industrial complex at Bowling.
But senior West Dunbartonshire Council officers say the project, which is part of Glasgow City Region Deal, is at risk of climbing costs due the the pandemic and Brexit.
They further warn that all of the ambition in its entirety could “prove to be unaffordable” and say it may need to be reviewed before the final business case is approved later this year.
Councillors discussed the progress of the project at a recent full council meeting.
Officers told them that plans were progressing with Balfour Beatty appointed to be the main contractor, while Exxonmobil continue to remediate the site of a former oil terminal in Bowling.
Jim Bollan, of West Dunbartonshire Community Party, has been a long-standing critic of the plans and commented: “The officers seem to be raising the alarm bells here.
“It tells us at the beginning of the report that the project is £34m but let’s remind ourselves, this project started at £27m.
“It’s now up to £34m, we’ve not put a brick in the ground yet and it’s cost us £7m.
“Now officers are telling us that the current options that we’re pursuing might be unaffordable.
“Can I get some explanation about why they believe at this moment in time the current agreed option might be unaffordable and if that is the case what will be stripped out the project to still allow it to go ahead?”
Michael McGuinness, economic development manager, replied: “We have a number of scenarios we need to consider in terms of the affordability, in terms of some of the works we need to do at a certain time.
“Inflation running at five percent has an impact on projects of this nature.
“The project board along with our contractor who we have commissioned this month, Balfour Beattie will work very closely together to ensure that the elements of works as they are designed can be affordable.
“Should that circumstance arise I think from good risk management point of view, it’s important we highlight that certain elements of the work may not be affordable.”
A report states that the costs could hike due to delays in completing the final business case and price increases globally because of the pandemic and Brexit.
It adds that opportunities are being explored to manage expenditure.
The council is also yet to purchase all of the land it requires, with discussions still underway with landowners.
Labour group leader Martin Rooney said he would rather see more money being injected into the project than see it stripped back.
He said: “It’s a huge ambitious project for the whole of the Glasgow city region and West Dunbartonshire should deliver its project in full.
“We shouldn’t be cutting bits of it out and if that means revisiting the project in the future and seeing there’s additional costs which we’ve had to pick up then we’ll have to face that when it comes.
“I’m not for cutting it short at all.
“If anything, I’ll be willing to put more money into it and make sure it’s delivered as part of our contribution to the improvements across the Glasgow city region.”
