A further £1.47 million can be spent on the new carbon-neutral council headquarters in Penrith, councillors have agreed.
The decision by Eden Council was comprehensively voted through at a recent meeting of the full council.
It follows rising energy costs and inflation hitting the construction trade as well as issues at the Portland Place site requiring expensive remedy.
Inflation alone has added £800,000 to the bill by driving up costs for materials and labour, as well as the prices charged by sub-contractors reacting to the changing economic climate.
And costs have gone up due to a number of unforeseen issues uncovered as contractors stripped the former NHS building back to its shell.
These have knocked the schedule out of kilter for contractors, which means a December opening has been mothballed with it now expected in March.
Issues have included:
- The discovery of “compromised” support pillars which have required additional reinforcement costing £55,000
- Extensive carbonation treatments costing £200,000
- A significant discovery of deadly asbestos which has required specialist removal to the tune of £70,000
However, council managers have underlined to elected councillors that while construction costs may have risen, they had to be weighed against the overall savings the new building will generate over a decade.
These are now estimated at £10.7 million, which “validates” the single-site decision.
Back in October last year, the project was estimated to cost around £4.1 million, but that sum looks more likely to sail closer towards £6 million.
Changes in the UK economy have also followed the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Voreda House will be the northernmost “anchor” building housing staff for the incoming Westmorland and Furness Council which takes over from April.
At the same meeting, the council agreed to provide £325,000 worth of help to its leisure centre provider, Greenwich Leisure Limited, which has also faced soaring energy costs at the two centres it manages on behalf of Eden in Penrith and Appleby.
The company, which runs 258 Better gyms and leisure centres, has been stung by soaring gas and electricity costs which have added £15 million onto its annual energy bill.
