ALBURY Council will head back to the drawing board for the design of the Lavington Sportsground amenities building with the cancellation of a tender for the works at the 11th hour.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The rare move will see the overall project budget blowout again and construction of the amenities building delayed at least six months.
Cr Henk van de Ven succeeded in calling for the building to be re-designed.
“It’s a precinct having a lot of money spent on it and I think we can do a hell of a lot better than a rectangular block as new changerooms for what will be our premier sporting facility,” he said.
Cr van de Ven said the building had all the necessary features, but the final design “did nothing” for him and fell short of the original concept plans presented to council.
Cr John Stuchbery seconded Cr van de Ven’s motion and they gained the backing of mayor Kevin Mack, deputy mayor Amanda Cohn, Cr Murray King and Cr David Thurley.
Cr Darren Cameron said the council was making a mistake ripping up the tender.
“It is a very ordinary thing to do in my view to invite tenders, short-list them and staff do all they have to do to assess them and then at this very late stage say we don’t like the design of the building and do it again,” he said.
“It’s unprofessional and the kindest thing I could say.
“We’ve acted in good faith and the people who have responded to these tenders have acted in good faith.
“There was no controversy about it at the committee meeting that I can recall.”
Cr Stuchbery said the final design well short of earlier expectations.
“The original drawings were slightly more exciting than the final product,” he said.
“Committee meetings are where some hot air is vented, but council meetings are where final decisions are made.”
Engineering director Brad Ferris said based on Cr van de Ven’s motion the “variations would be significant”.