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Move that will cost you £3.6m
Council depot in Dean Road, the base for many household services including bin wagons
A HUGE move to build a new council depot in Scarborough could cost taxpayers £3.69 million.
Scarborough Council bosses are set to thrash out a deal to close the existing Dean Road base and transfer facilities to Queen Margaret’s Industrial Estate.
The move - designed to cut council costs - will see the authority spend £220,000 on consultants to create designs for the new building as supermarket giant Tesco grows closer to starting the development on its massive megastore in Dean Road.
The retail colossus, which won planning permission in December, could begin work in September and is still pushing for an order to close part of Trafalgar Street West.
The new store will create 350 new jobs and safeguard 200 positions and feature a 9,500 sq metre shop floor, with 516-space car park and petrol station.
Scarborough Council’s cabinet are set to meet next week to discuss the proposals which are aimed at maximising budget reductions.
A report from David Archer, the council’s strategic director and Nicholas Edwards, the head of finance and asset management, said the move was a necessity in such an austere climate.
It said: “The depot at Dean Road is substantially larger than the facility now required by the council.
“Therefore, a relocation to a smaller site is needed to better suit the needs of the services which will enable the council to take advantage of modern, more efficient, flexible ways of working; making better use of new technology and therefore reduce running costs and overheads incurred by the council.
“The planning application for the new depot includes a polytunnel and hard standing area meaning if a decision to outsource plant supply is taken, the new depot site will be available to receive plants and be used as a distribution hub.”
The new depot will be built on the former 1.5 hectare Gas Board site in Queen Margaret’s Industrial Estate, which was previously owned by the Skipton Building Society and the report added services housed at Manor Road base could also be transferred to the new site to further boost cash savings.
The report added: “The principal risk is the need to expend money and construct the new facility to provide vacant possession to Tesco upon them obtaining planning permission.
“The council therefore has no option than to commit to the expenditure on design and construction works to facilitate this relocation.
“The Dean Road depot is still too large for the council’s future needs following the termination of the Highways Agency and the relocation is also desirable from an operational and cost efficiency perspective.”
Speaking after the development was granted last year, Deborah Hayeems, Tesco’s regional corporate affair manager, said the company was eager to start work in Scarborough.
She added: “We will be keen to progress quickly and will need top address a couple of matters before we can start construction - relocation of the depot, highway works and discussions with the town about how best to phase our work to reduce impact.
“We are also looking forward to working with the community to ensure many of the new jobs go to local long-term unemployed people.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 25 comments to this article
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I read the news today, oh boy
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 10:22 AMPending Moderation
joan greenwood
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 02:52 PMWell said will the chief excutive now listen and as suggested publish a list of salaries ?? I doubt it .Why dont the elected councillors object or is it ereally a case of brown envelopes ?? Is the SBC in cahoots with the paid officials I am still waiting for a reply from the chief excutive 4 weeks later he must be so busy
Tim Thorne
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 01:03 PM@21 How long would it take that group of people to design such a facility? £200k suggests 4-6 months work. @22 A list of all Council Employees by job title and salary would be a useful thing for them to publish. So much of this stuff is hidden away it seems.
tinpotgodslayer
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 09:42 AMTim, I have in the past put plans in to SBC and they had plenty to say about design, regulations, construction and materials so I assumed from that little lot that they had someone capable of deciding what is appropriate. The inspector also called around to check things where all above board and carried out to design plans. If they have since dispensed with those services then that has been another short sighted cost decision. Private enterprise in areas of local government and business only push up costs up year on year. The other point for me is that the cost of this should come from the sale of the old site. Not passed on to the tax paying residents once again. This would raise the question on what they have done or plan to do with the Tesco cash.
throxenbylad
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 07:54 PMConsultancy fees will be for a whole design team. Architect, QS, structural engineer, civil engineer, health & safety supervisor and a project manager. Let's hope they will all be recruited in Scarborough. Lets also hope a Scarborough builder gets the contract. But don't hold your breath...SBC will be shopping out of town I bet.
Tim Thorne
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 07:07 PM"Why consultants again, we have highly paid officers" I read the article and thought the 200k was being spent on architect designs. I wouldn't expect SBC to have an architect in-house so I think outsourcing this work is a good thing. The only bad point is the cost. Is 200k for multiple designs from multiple firms for multiple buildings? Or have they employed people they are well acquainted with and are paying them well above the market price for the work?
shogun_showtime
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 05:22 PMAnyone want some FREE circus tickets for tonights show? I have some that I can't use. Its for up to four folk! Front circle seats worth 18 pounds each! You just have to buy a programme thats a fiver! Its a shame to waste them!
ANARCHIST
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 03:54 PMThis is why they need iPads. Managers can work from home. Garage for the refuse wagons and Portacabins for the office staff ( no doubt the staff will be reduced due to increase efficiency) definately a reduction on the £3.6 Milliion mentioned. Like post 7, where are the little brown envolopes . They are still around somewhere.
tinpotgodslayer
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:51 PMWhy consultants again, we have highly paid officers (too many i might add) to do exactly this kind of job, if they do not have the skills necessary to fulfill that role, its time SBC fired them and quick. Save the money your paying consultants by getting rid of the tinpot gods in the Town Hall. They are serving no purpose if SBC have to employ outside consultants everytime we need designs, information on this cut, and that cut, advice on where savings can be made and services and jobs slashed. GET OUT NOW if your supposed to these jobs but cant and moreover SBC a the Sly One, sack the lot of them if they are not willing to fulfill their contractual obligations. This is a farce once more Foxy and you are the lead role as usual.
throxenbylad
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:59 PMRe #13 that's the new County Council depot. SBC's new depot will be something else. TwoDepots Scarborough. - but no Jags for't Mayor!
Somebody keeps taking my pint away
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:26 PMOr, top a lesser extent the savings by getting rid of the Mayoral car, a story the SEN seems to have forgotten to publish...
Offendedtaxpayer
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:04 PMOk so what happened to open government and involving the people of Scarborough, WE elect you, listen to us when we say - NO, £3.6 million and SBC are cutting services, Jobs and closing Library's no wonder they tell us there is no money, it's spent inappropriately on OAT, PINDER, and Council buildings no one knows what they are for
pandaman121
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 11:00 PMAnd what is the building on the Eastfield Industrial site for?, the NEW council building next to what used to be AWJ, at the bottom of Hopperhill Road. I thought it was a new factory being built and went asked if any jobs would be going, but was told no, it is a council building.........
I read the news today, oh boy
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 07:06 PMJust wondering, did the council’s "strategic director" and "head of finance and asset management" advise members that the council "therefore has no option than to commit to the expenditure etc etc" before the Tesco deal was agreed?
Animalhouse
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 06:19 PMIf you go to the end of the road at Queen Margaret's industrial estate, past the gasworks, you will see a huge hard standing and a big modern office building that looks to be in good condition. The hard standing has recently been checked over for safety, remember the work along there that contaminated the beck that runs down Weaponess. The work done at Manor Road nurseries could be transferred there too, although greenhouses could be at risk as it's a very quiet area out of office hours. But I don't agree with Tesco having the Dean Road site, I don't like the way they bulldoze their way into and around towns. Maybe ASDA would have been the same, but we aren't going to find out because SBC is sucking up to Tesco.
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