Published on Wednesday, 2 March 2016 at 12:00:00 AM
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Shire of Koorda
Koorda Recreation Centre
Further Information
Recently the Shire of Koorda published information about the expenditure for the Recreation Centre Upgrades to keep the public informed of our current direction and costings for the project. Some Concern has been raised by members of the public about the total cost of the building and do we need to spend so much.
The Shire Staff have looked at the project and funding options to provide a graph of what could be other funding options but concerned is raised as once we start reducing the scope of works, we eliminated the possibility of receiving National Stronger Regions Funding (NSRF) which is our main funding source. Other funding is available, but a lot less funding will be received. It is hoped that the attach graph may be able to show the impact of changes to the funding.
Funding Option (A) – Current Funding
The current application is for NSRF and Shire funds for the project which will give the Shire a liability of $1.5m and deliver a total project of $4.7m which has been estimated as conservatively high. With the Funding option of NSRF being so high, it was seen as our best opportunity of getting a quality facility without compromise and at the lowest cost to the ratepayers.
Funding Option (B) – Current funding with additional funds
Along with the current funding application, staff will be looking at other additional funding to compliment the NSRF. This will reduce our liability, but will also reduce the NSRF contribution and other funds must come off first. This option will leave the Shire with a liability of $1.23m and still deliver a project in total of $4.7m
Funding Option (C) – No NSRF Funding
This option looks at what we may be expecting in costs without the NSRF funding to assist. This scenario leaves the Shire with a liability of $3.9m to deliver a total project of $4.7. This would be in a staged approach and would need careful consideration due to the extreme cost to the Shire.
Funding Option (D) – reduced scope of work
Once we reduce the scope of works, it is almost guaranteed that we would not be able to apply for NSRF grant funding as the project would not be able to delivery on enough items to be successful with an application. Several items removed from this would need to be considered again at a later date, ie verandas on the south and west sides for the bowling area and tennis/netball courts. These could be left until the grounds shift, but may also see different materials being used. Wall coverings have been removed but would leave the current situation of having multi coloured bricks used in the facility which is not aesthetically pleasing. Some kitchen fit out has been removed which reduces the capacity of the kitchen. Further savings of about $60,000 can be made if an acoustic ceiling was not installed, but this would make the current noise concerns even worse.
Even with all these changes, not much has been saved as a costing to the Shire. The total Shire cost is still $3.6m and the total project cost $4.3m. Further reductions to the scope of works may be able to be made, but would reduce the benefit of upgrading the building.
Please remember, a public information session will be held at the Koorda Recreation Ground on the 10th March from 7pm to ensure that all members of the public are aware of the application before it is submitted. If you have any concerns that may need further research, please advise the Chief Executive Officer as soon as possible.
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