A TOTAL of £745,000 of public money earmarked for Olympics projects is set to be spent on a bailout for the multi-million pound renovation of a park, it has emerged.
It comes after consultants hired by Waltham Forest Council underestimated the cost of improvement works to Lloyd and Aveling Park in Walthamstow.
They originally said the cost of the project, which includes a new cafe, gallery, play areas and other works, would be just under £4million.
The council received £3.5million in grant money from the National Lottery to help pay for it, but no contractor was prepared to carry out the work within the budget drawn up by the consultants.
The council has so far not revealed which consultants were responsible and how much they were paid.
The authority has spent the last few months downsizing and altering some parts of the plans, but has still been unable to bring the costs down far enough.
The delay caused by the incorrect estimates has also meant the refurbishment may not now be completed until summer 2012, meaning the authority will also have to pay out a further £45,000 to a project manager.
The council now says the works will cost £4.6million, and the National Lottery says it will not agree to the revised plans for the park unless the authority pays for the shortfall.
As a result, council officers have recommended that the £745,000 funding gap be plugged with cash from its Olympic Capital programme budget.
The plans will be discussed and voted on by the authority's cabinet at a meeting next Wednesday (April 13).
Waltham Forest’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Arts and Culture, Cllr Geraldine Reardon, said: “Most residents will be very familiar with situations where the original quote for a project doesn’t match the final cost - this is a simple but aggravating fact of life, whatever the scale of the project.
“This was, of course, disappointing and presented us with some difficult choices. However, rather than risk losing both the Heritage Lottery Fund’s £3.5million grant and the money that had already been spent we decided to bridge the gap with some of the funding that has been put aside for improvement works in the run-up to the 2012 Games.
“As one of the borough’s best loved open spaces we are absolutely committed to Lloyd Park’s restoration and redevelopment.
"The work will be a showcase for both the borough and the 2012 Games, and frankly we refuse to let these hurdles dampen our enthusiasm for what will doubtless be an even popular destination for residents and visitors alike.”
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