'No guarantee' Plymouth's Armada Way plans will stay under budget

Councillors reviewed revised plans for the Armada Way regeneration project

Council bosses in Plymouth said they could not guarantee a regeneration project would stay within budget.

Revised plans for Plymouth's Armada Way were reviewed by councillors following a large scale public consultation.

The original project made national headlines when the previous administration ordered the felling of more than 100 trees at night.

The six-week consultation led to a number of changes to the proposals and the maximum spend rising to £36.8m.

The plans will now be reviewed by Plymouth City Council's cabinet next month before a final decision is made.

During a meeting of the council's Growth and Infrastructure Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a number of questions were raised around the project's budget.

Concerns around the potential budget rising were raised during a council meeting

Following the consultation, the council has been asked to approve an extra £22.8m to be added to the plans.

On top of the £14m already assigned to the project, it increases the budget to £36.8m.

'Volatile' market

Andy Lugger, leader of the Conservative group, said he had been told of "grave concerns" around the project's costs and asked if there would be any further increases.

Paul Barnard, the council's service director for strategic planning and infrastructure, replied that he could not give any guarantees the costs would not rise.

He added the current market was "volatile" and the plan had so many "moving parts".

However, cabinet member for environment and climate change Tom Briars-Delve said the estimate was based on a "likely maximum" spend and the council hoped to keep the price tag down.

More discussion to be had

The revised plans include two more trees being retained in the city centre, changes to the cycle path which is part of the project and more seating.

The committee approved sending the plans up to cabinet members to consider at a meeting on 5 February before a final decision is taken two weeks later.

Several recommendations including keeping the budget within the maximum spend were added for the cabinet's consideration.

Speaking at the meeting, deputy leader of the council Jemima Laing said while the cost was high, Plymouth "deserved" what has been proposed.