Buckingham Group Contracting, which had a pre-construction services agreement for Bristol Arena, has been put on stand-still after it emerged the plans could not be delivered for the 拢123.5m budget.
Consultants carrying out a value-for-money review of the proposed 12,000 capacity arena for Bristol have now been instructed by Mayor Marvin Rees to expand the scope of this review.
KPMG had been commissioned for the review, considering the financial case for the arena in a report which was due soon. Now its scope will expand to take in the location, design and the possibility of private financing as part of a wider assessment of options. The results are expected next month, with a decision on how to move forward with the project expected at a council cabinet meeting in January.
Buckingham Group Contracting has completed the professional services to be delivered under the pre-construction services agreement and presented its target cost for construction. It was beyond budget.
Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees said: 鈥淏uckingham have done a good job and we now need to see what the wider review of the project says. I remain 100% committed to delivering an arena for Bristol and with this in mind it is right to look at every available option, along with the benefits and drawbacks of each. We can鈥檛 commit to the current design on this specific site at any cost and I wouldn鈥檛 want that kind of blinkered approach to become the arena鈥檚 undoing鈥�.
聽鈥淎 lot of work continues to go into the project and this pause shouldn鈥檛 be mistaken for a backwards step. We鈥檙e operating to the same decision-making timeline that鈥檚 been previously announced. This is about doing the sensible thing in looking at all of the possibilities and being open minded about where the advice received takes us. Whatever happens, the arena will become reality and we remain on-track for a report to Cabinet in January.鈥�
The current projected budget for the arena is 拢123.5m, for which funding is available from the Economic Development Fund (拢53m), operator contribution and income (拢42.5m) and infrastructure funding associated with the wider Temple Meads East project (拢28m). Building the arena to its current design on the proposed site remains highly likely to cost significantly more than this, although the precise target figure is commercially sensitive and remains confidential, the mayor said.
Marvin Rees continued: 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing with the cost is a challenge and we need to deal with it. I鈥檝e asked our consultants KPMG to consider every avenue. This includes raising private investment, thinking about other sites and considering designs which could be delivered within budget. Nothing is off the table because one way or another this city is going to get an arena it can afford.鈥�
, the council last year tried to get Bouygues to build its arena for less than 拢80m but the French contractor was unable to agree terms and left the project.
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