WNC says Market Square project is 'not over budget' at £12.4m, but cost breakdown won’t be revealed for at least a year

Major refurbishment works to the Market Square have been ongoing since February 2023 and are set to complete this week, with the grand opening taking place this weekend (October 19–20).

The extensive multi-million pound project, completed by contractors Stepnell on behalf of WNC, includes new paving, water features, seating, improved landscaping, a dedicated events space, and 18 fixed stalls. The bespoke stalls have electricity, water, and lighting, and are accompanied by 19 pop-up tent stalls and 26 additional pop-up tent stalls in the events space. The market can also accommodate up to 10 food concession vehicles.

In April, it was revealed that the market redevelopment had reached a cost of £12.4 million. The initial project cost was £8.4 million, fully funded by the Government’s Towns Funds. This figure later increased to £10 million during construction and was last reported to be at £12.4million. WNC previously said this increase was because ‘construction costs are significantly higher due to inflation and lasting effects of the pandemic’.

In October 2023, Chronicle and Echo found in the council’s contracts register that the contract could go up to £12 million. However, the council requested the Chron not to share it at the time in a bid to stop the contractor potentially increasing their costs.

Over the summer of 2024, as the works were nearing completion, Chronicle and Echo submitted an FOI request for a detailed cost breakdown. WNC denied the request, arguing that disclosing this information could harm ongoing negotiations with the main contractor Stepnell and result in additional costs. They stated that the information would be available once the contract is complete.

Chronicle and Echo has once again asked if and when WNC will release a final breakdown of costs, to which it has revealed it will be a minimum of a year until anything is published.

A spokesman for WNC said: “Yes, of course. [It’ll be] completely transparent, yes. We’ll be happy to.

"We know in detail what the costs are, but we’re going through a live procurement at the minute. It takes a while on a construction project to achieve the final account, so even when you finish physical works, there’s still a negotiation to go through. It won’t be for a while. The costs are still being determined. I’d say at least 12 months. There are no caveats. The information will be published when it is ready and when we’re able to.”

Conservative Councillor Daniel Lister, in charge of town centre regeneration at WNC, said: “As long as we can release them, I’ve got no problem. If they’re available, they’ll be FOI’able. There’s nothing under secrecy. I’m not aware of anything that will preclude us from publishing them after it’s gone from a live contract.”

The council spokesman said the project has never gone over budget because the council never publicly revealed their £12.4m budget until April 2024 at a cabinet meeting. He said: “I’m still working to the budget I was set in 2021. The £8.4m budget that was the grant we had from the future high street fund. The cabinet report in 2021 set the budget I’ve been working to ever since [£12.4m]. It’s never gone above budget. We told you the information we were able to at each stage to ensure we remain competitive and compliant with the procurement process. All the information has been available to you.”

When asked about the relationship with the contractor, considering concerns over potential price increases if the actual budget is disclosed, the spokesman responded: “We maintain a positive relationship with the contractor; however, this is standard practice in the industry.”

Shadow Cabinet Member for Local Economy, Culture and Leisure, Labour councillor Koulla Jolley said her party is ‘outraged’ with the situation.

Councillor Joulley said: “We in the Labour Group are outraged that neither we nor the public will see a cost breakdown of the Market Square project for another year at least.

“We are also very concerned to find the council trying to silence the press over information that was already in the public realm. We knew from January 2023 that the budget may increase to £12m, but like the Administration we were bound to silence by regulations. But to hear that the Chronicle found this budget last October in the public realm and were still asked to keep it from the wider public because of possible cost increases by contractors is chilling. Councils must always be transparent.

“In the end, the inflationary costs and extra capital funding was necessary to deliver the market square we can hopefully all enjoy once it fully opens this weekend, but the exact details of these still have to be scrutinised. We will be requesting a deep dive into the finances of the project and will eagerly await the cost breakdown once it is finalised.”