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Millions extra for controversial MetroBus
The controversial MetroBus scheme needs an additional £2.72m from Bristol City Council to cover “risks” and “further costs”.
The Ashton Vale to Temple Meads and Bristol City Centre MetroBus Scheme is the first of three routes that will form part of the MetroBus network.
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night councillors will be asked to approve the extra money to support the scheme.
One million pounds is needed to pay extra costs to contractors, after delays confirming the project meant tender contracts ran out. The rest of the money will be put in a contingency fund to cover “potential risks”.
Campaigners against the MetroBus scheme say they want an independent inquiry into the scheme.
Pip Sheard, spokesperson for Stop BRT2, said they would be calling on the Cabinet to refuse the extra money, and for the “project to be halted until a full and transparent statement of current construction costs is published”.
The scheme was approved last year and, while officers report that “the project remains within the agreed budget,” the report also highlights “a number of increased risks that have been identified” and “some further costs pressures that have effectively reduced the contingency funding available”.
‘White elephant’
However, Ms Shard said: “We no longer have confidence that those in charge of this scheme are in control of its finances.”
She added that at the October meeting council officers “revealed that the project was £9.1m over its budget” and StopBRT2 “expect officers to come back for councillors to rubber stamp more AVTM construction costs for this transport white elephant as the project continues’.
In total £3.4m extra is required to support the scheme. Bristol City Council is being asked to contribute £2.72m and North Somerset Council £680,000.
The new cost of MetroBus is £54,545,701, up £3.4m from October 2014.
Councillors will be told that while the Department for Transport grant is worth £34.5m, no extra money will come from the government for any overspend.
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