The initial plans

Initially, the Parish Council agreed to completely renovate both parts of the buildings, reconfigure the existing room space and extend to provide for additional changing rooms and storage space.

A full tender process was undertaken based on the plans agreed at this time.

Link for plans.

This was to be a turnkey project operated by one contractor. However, once the tender prices were collated, it became apparent that the cost of such a re-development and extension was going to be difficult to justify and fund. Also, at this stage the facilities were booked out every day and every evening, so this would mean a lot of lost revenue if it was closed for a period of 12-16 weeks.

In June 2022, the Parish Council discussed where the project may go now.

1. Do nothing, reassess at a future time, probably 12 months. Apart from the delay in progress, there is a risk that costs increase further.

1. Complete an aesthetic 'refresh' only and reassess meaningful work at a future time. A refresh is likely to cost £100k and would become additional cost if the original project or an iteration thereof moves forward in the future.

1. Continue with the plan at £1.2m. This would mean discontinuing all other projects and reallocating all associated monies.

1. Abandon the current plan and start the process again from scratch. Apart from the delay in progress, there is a risk that costs would increase or that the final scheme is so compromised it becomes unjustifiable.

1. Continue with the plan but adopt a phased approach. Phase 1 involves the refurbishment works including the larger room and creating 2 of 4 changing rooms at a cost of £850k but does not include the new storage area or works to the car park.

It was agreed by the Parish Council to pursue option 5.

This allowed the project to continue 'as is' albeit at a reduced pace and higher cost. It capitalised on work and planning already undertaken. Future work can be completed as monies become available, and there is scope for design amendments. Should it become necessary, there would be the potential for a FA compliant portable 2-team changing room building to be sited where the new changing rooms were going to be built as an interim measure (possible cost £50k). Option 5 requires an additional £100k compared to the business plan. The business plan has £200k allocated for a MUGA and allocations for other facilities at the college (e.g., donation for 3G pitch). The college has suggested that these are under review and will not be progressed in the short term. There is also the possibility of lowering some of the specifications of the work to achieve small scale savings. Assuming the MUGA is not required, option 5 is affordable with some contingency coming from the delayed/discontinued College contribution.

February 2023 – Current Situation

Option 5 costings have been sought and reviewed with the main contractor anddue to rising costs, tender estimates the cost at £850/900k. This is still significantly over the original anticipated budget costing and would not achieve the scheme as intended. This would still eat into the original intended Business Plan projections and affect the other projects and their ability to be completed.

A developed option 2 has been explored.

During the last month or so, an aesthetic 'refresh'/upgrade option has been considered. This was based on asking (mainly known) contractors to price individually for their area of expertise, with an understanding that a life span of at least 10 years could be achieved by the existing or upgraded facilities and equipment. This was particularly poignant for the electrical and heating areas of work.

Renovating/aesthetically "refreshing" has added benefits:

• Ability to control when the works are done in terms of working with the large number of existing customers who hire the facilities. This can also be split in to 3 project areas for a lot of the work, i.e., the sports side, village hall side and outside and thus choose quieter periods to undertake the work and keep the facility open most of the time.

• Having access to the services of local and existing contractors who take pride in their workmanship as they are part of the community.

• The recent party/hall bookings have highlighted the fact, that a lot of people actually choose the village hall as a venue, due to it having the stage, bar area and wood floor.

• Four changing rooms would be retained.

• Minimum of 10-year lifespan for utilities. With the ongoing and improvements to renewable energies, it is likely that any equipment will need replacing after 10/15-year period as the potential for getting gas fired heating repaired will probably be an issue.

• Potential for access to grant funding by separating the project areas and working with the individual customers.

The downsides for this approach are:

• The added workload on the Parish Council staff in becoming the "project manager" and dealing with lots of individual contractors on top of the increased workloads of a large parish.

• The difficulty of getting all of the contractors to commit to the work on a given timescale.

• The changing rooms wouldn't meet the current size for FA standards, and therefore, it is unlikely any funding would be available from the Football Foundation. (No users have complained directly about the size of the changing rooms).

The estimated cost for undertaking the renovating/aesthetically "refreshing" is in the region of £250k.

Other options considered again.

1. Do nothing, wait and see if the market prices reduce reassess at a future time. Retain very dated facility. Further cost increases the longer there is a delay in starting any works. Waste of the time and exploratory works undertaken to date.

1. Continue with the full original plan at £1.2m plus. This would mean discontinuing all other projects in the Business Plan and reallocating all associated monies, with the potential for still increased and hidden costs to be funded.

A developed option 2 is now recommended and agreement from the Council is sought for the following:

• To the renovating/aesthetically "refreshing" the whole facility (sports and village hall) at a cost of circa £250k.

• To pay for additional short-term staff and /or additional hours as needed to assist existing staff who are project managing the Project. Costs for additional staff requirement will be part of the overall cost of the project and funded through the Section 106 monies received.

• To waive financial regulations to allow existing and local contractors to be used, if they are known for their workmanship, reliability and cost effectiveness on previous works undertaken for the Parish Council, without the need to seek 3 quotations.

• To give delegated powers to the Chairman, Vice-chairman, Chairman of Recreation and the Clerk to review and approve works and costings, bringing a report of costs to the next available meeting of the Parish Council.

• To update the Business Plan accordingly taking into account this projected change in costings.