Bristol Beacon £107m revamp cost is 'bonkers'

The Bristol Beacon foyer was in the first phase of the renovations and opened in 2009

The cost of a revamp of a music venue, which has more than doubled, has been described as "bonkers".

The work on the Bristol Beacon was expected to cost £48.8m, but that has increased to £107m.

Members of Bristol City Council's scrutiny committee approved the extra cost but also called for an inquiry.

Green councillor Stephen Clark claimed the cost was "bonkers", but council officials said many experts had underestimated the cost.

The 150-year-old music venue, owned by Bristol City Council, is the largest in the city and needs extensive modernisation.

Asbestos, hollow-support pillars that need replacing and Elizabethan well shafts were among some of the more serious problems uncovered.

According to a report compiled by accountants KPMG in 2017, the restored venue could contribute more than £250m to Bristol's economy in the 20 years after reopening, and create hundreds of jobs.

Liberal Democrat councillor Anthony Negus added the project was "too important to drop at this stage".

"But…we should call for an inquiry. At stages in this contract, it has clearly been very badly handled, and we should learn from this," he added.

Stephen Peacock, the council's executive director of growth and regeneration, said "a lot of experts" underestimated the hidden structural problems when the initial costs were estimated.

But the council has now achieved 92% "cost certainty", transferring that level of financial risk to its main contractor, Willmott Dixon, he said.