Bath and North East Somerset Council's plans to deliver a thirteen-pitch gypsy and traveller site on land adjacent to the Lower Bristol Road, Bath, are moving forward, including obtaining planning permission, securing vacant possession of the site and selecting a housing association to deliver the scheme, yet Councillors are still arguing about cost.
The Council is expecting to exchange contracts with Elim Housing, which has been selected to develop and manage the site, within the next few days. Elim Housing is an experienced and highly-regarded housing association, which is also developing a gypsy and traveller site in Weston-super-Mare. Elim's building contractor is currently undertaking pre-commencement mobilisation works on the site, including hoardings and site storage.
Cllr Tim Ball (Lib-Dem, Twerton), Cabinet Member for Homes and Planning, said: "Bath and North East Somerset Council has a statutory duty to provide a suitable site for gypsies and travellers and, therefore, remains committed to delivering this project within our original budget.
"Elim Housing is developing the scheme for a cost of £1.62m, funded by £870,000 from Council-supported borrowing and £750,000 from Central Government. The build costs are in line with other schemes that meet current Government standards."
However, the Liberal Democrat-run administration has been accused of attempting to 'hide' more than half-a-million pounds worth of costs associated with delivering the Lower Bristol Road traveller site.
Last week, the Council released figures which suggested that the cost of delivering the travellers site came to a total of £1.62 million, funded with £750,000 from the Homes and Communities Agency and £870,000 from Council borrowing. However, Conservative Councillors argue that the amount quoted by the Council only takes into account the cost of the contract with the housing provider and that when additional costs, such as professional fees, highway works and planning obligations are factored in, the actual cost of the project jumps to over £2.1 million – or £2.35 million if the land value is included. Opposition Conservatives have accused the Council of trying to 'bury' the additional costs and failing to be straight with residents over the amount of taxpayers' money being spent on the project.
Councillor Tim Warren, Conservative Group Leader, said: "The Lib-Dems running B&NES have been caught out trying to hide at least half-a-million pounds of costs associated with this highly-expensive traveller site on the Lower Bristol Road. "As a result of their failure to budget properly for this project and keep a lid on costs, the Lib-Dems are now attempting to bury bad news because it doesn't suit them. Once all the costs are included, such as professional fees, highway works and planning obligations, the price tag actually comes to at least £2.1 million. And this doesn't even take account of the fact the Council's own valuation puts the value of the land at £250,000.
"But the reality is, whether it comes to £2.1 million, £1.6 million, or £2.5 million, this is an eye-wateringly expensive project to embark upon at a time of budget cutbacks. What's more, the cost to B&NES taxpayers remains far more than in other Councils, such as neighbouring North Somerset, where they have managed to secure much better deals from the HCA and developer."
Conservative Shadow Spokesman for Homes and Planning, Cllr Liz Richardson, commented: "We have always supported the need for the Council to find and identify appropriate sites for authorised traveller pitches. But the Council has a duty to deliver these sites at a fair and reasonable cost to local taxpayers. It is clearly failing in this duty.
"The Council also gives the misleading impression that it has a statutory obligation to provide these sites itself. It does not. The Council's obligation is to identify land for the sites, but how they are delivered and funded could be in a number of different ways." Cllr Tim Warren added: "Conservatives have argued for months that B&NES was over-budgeting for this project and planning to spend way over the odds on this traveller site. It seems we may now have been proved right. This demonstrates yet again the poor grip the Lib- Dems have on Council finances.
"We are asking Council Officers for a breakdown of all the costs associated with this project and will be keeping a close watch on the totals as work progresses.
"This also confirms that B&NES won't even keep a penny from the rent paid by tenants of the site – this will go straight to the developer instead. It's hard to see how this is a good deal for B&NES taxpayers."
The scheme, which is expected to be completed by March 2015, will provide eight permanent pitches and five temporary or transit pitches. The permanent pitches will be subject to rent and Council Tax. The Council Tax bandings will be set by the Valuation Office Agency, though are likely to be Band A, currently £963 per year. In addition, the transit pitches will be subject to a yet-to-be agreed daily rate.