Tameside seeks cash for rising cost of Stalybridge roof job  

Having originally budgeted £550,000 to replace the roof of the town’s civic hall, the council is now seeking an additional £1.1m to fund the project and has warned costs could continue to rise.

A report to Tameside Council’s executive board said that the overall cost of the Stalybridge Civic Hall roof project has risen to £1.7m, following surveys carried out by contractor Robertson. 

The surveys identified the need to replace roof lights and an essential health and safety access system, which were not factored into the original budget. 

As such, the council is seeking approval to draw down cash from its capital projects budget at a meeting of its executive cabinet on 28 July. 

Tameside warned that the cost of the project could yet rise further due to “construction inflation and the difficulty to obtain aggregates, timber, steel, cement and concrete products”. 

In addition, the Stalybridge roof scheme would further obstruct Tameside’s sluggish capital programme. 

The council has racked up a £32m funding shortfall due to not selling enough sites and making enough in capital receipts.  

As a result, the current capital programme is unaffordable and the council is reviewing its regeneration priorities.

By taking another £1.1m for the roof project, the amount available for other projects would decrease to £6m, according to the report. 

However, the additional budget for the roof scheme has been included within the recently submitted Levelling Up Fund bid to central government for Stalybridge town centre, totalling £14.5m. 

If the LUF bid is successful, £1.1m would be put back into the capital programme, the council said.