£10m needs to be cut from cost of Northampton’s new railway station
OFFICIALS at the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation are trying to work out ways to cut £10 million off the cost of Northampton’s new railway station.
Plans to build a new station in the town were first revealed by the organisation in 2004, but so far the Government-backed group has struggled to find funding for the project.
In a report which will be seen by the group’s board next week, the WNDC’s director of regeneration and development, Chris Garden, said it was now feared the £52 million cost of the project, which has been worked out by Network Rail, could be putting off potential investors.
He said: “The current Network Rail cost estimate of £52 million is considered excessive and may be hindering the chances of securing funding to deliver the scheme.
“We’ve procured an independent review of the scheme costs by a consultant and their report was received in early January.
“The advice is that there are potential savings of up to 20 per cent, or £10 million, of the scheme value, with target cost for the station of about £22 million and for the multi-storey car park of £19.5 million.”
So far, the WNDC has spent more than £1 million putting together plans for the new station.
The organisation said the proposed scheme was “at the forefront of railway station design” and it has insisted that securing funding for the project was still one of its key objectives.
The latest plans for the new station, which were published in February last year, showed the station would feature a number of shops and cafes and there would also be new shops built next to the station building.
The WNDC now hopes to secure funding for the project from both the Government and Network Rail, as well as other sources.
It is also hoped the actual cost of construction work could be reduced in light of the global economic situation.
Mr Garden said: “Discussions have taken place with contractors to obtain a more realistic construction market view of the development costs. This has confirmed the view that there is currently an over estimate of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of construction costs.”
The station plans will be discussed by the WNDC board next week.
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Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
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Speakup
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 12:05 PMEliminate the offices - there will be no payback for at least 8 years. Cut the height of the new cube - its wasted space to heat and light and adds no value to the services. I'm going to catch the train, not for stargazing! Half the number of people in WNDC working on this project before another million is spent pondering how to make cuts. Ask the travelling public their first 2 priorities in a cheap online survey. All this can be done in days and not years.
willi eckaslyke
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:46 AMThe artist who produced the above 'futuristic impression' was presumably advised by Council spivs to not raise ratepayers hopes too high, by showing ALL the street lights back on.
Reginald Molehusband
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 09:47 PMmojo Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 12:22 PM Molehusband what about the town hall extension is that ugly to your sensitive eyes? So you have managed to identify one noteworthy new building in 50 years, well done. I don't disagree, but let's not forget that it cost £15m to build 20 years ago. My house has gone up 3.5 times in value since then, so I'm guessing it would cost £52m to build today - exactly the same as the budget for the new station. I agree, I know exactly what sort of railway station building I'd prefer...one that looks a bit like the Guidlhall. But then WNDC really likes its carbuncles such as Stalag Colditz aka Upton Grange. Talking of Sixfields, perhaps WNDC can get Cardoza in to help? After all he has made an art form out of promising new buildings at taxpayers' expense and then failing to deliver them.
Chrispy1
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 09:13 PMWNDC quango in "failure to deliver - shock"? Surely not. Whatever next will the Chron report? - "NBC don't achieve anything for town" shock? Or maybe "Bus station still standing and Grosvenor Center not enlarged at all" shock. Amazing, amazing news. I'm shocked to hear that these Pretty Pictures will all come to naught.
jimorourke
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 02:54 PMI think the proposed Northampton cube building is too similar in appearance to The Cube in Corby so its not very original in design. It does seem a strange time to build new office space (in a severe recession) with so many existing empty offices in Northampton that are available with car parking space.
Cely
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 01:22 PMJust don't build the offices that no one will want to rent, extend the car park that will be used. Problem solved.
mojo
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 12:22 PMGet rid of Network Rail they are far too expensive and waste money like there is no tomorrow. Molehusband what about the town hall extension is that ugly to your sensitive eyes?
Removed by moderator
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 11:11 AMGet rid of WNDC? How much will that save? What happened to the bonfire of the quangoes?
HOS
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 09:33 AMIf WNDC don't build the inaccessible and unlettable "Cube" folly, that money can go back into funding the station. A decent station is far more important. WNDC spending £1,000,000 in 7 years? Is that another of their gross underestimations of costs?
lady muck
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 08:20 AMTo sum up...WNDC has spent 7 years thinking, planning and spending £1m and now find it's unaffordable.
Reginald Molehusband
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 08:09 AMSave £10m on this project in this town? That's very, very simple: build it at least as ugly as anything else that's been built in this town in the last 50 years. We could even move Greyfriars brick by brick making it the first ever fully recycled building in the world. While they're at it scale down the multiple storey car park beause we never build anything properly in Northampton. And given all the tens of thousands of new houses here will be built sustainably, i.e. the residents won't use cars, we don't need the extra car parking anyway.
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