Braddan Roundhouse: Further £3.4m needed to complete leisure complex

The development is now expected to be completed in the winter

An extra £3.4m is needed to complete a leisure complex in the east of the Isle of Man, the local authority has said.

Braddan Commissioners have asked the Department of Infrastructure if it can borrow the money in order to get the project at the Strang finished.

The Roundhouse scheme is set to include a cafe, playground, sports hall, nursery and health facilities.

The authority has also asked for permission to apply a "special rate" to make businesses absorb the rate rise.

Work on the project, which was originally due to cost £6m, stated in June 2021 and had been due to be open this month.

It is now not expected to be completed until the winter.

'Unexpected issues'

Commissioners chairman Andrew Jessop said that if the special rate was turned down, the cost to residential ratepayers in Braddan could be a rise of up to 20% to cover the additional cost of the project alone.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "Part of the problem that we've had is because of the delay we've had no income, so we're actually now repaying the borrowings already out of money that we don't have."

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine have all been cited as factors in the spiralling cost of the project and the delays in its completion.

Mr Jessop said those factors had "brought with them material price increases and labour shortages, both of which the entire building industry on and off the Island is experiencing".

Some unexpected issues with the building's design had also contributed, he said.

However, the project was now nearing completion and the building would provide both in the parish and people island-wide with "first-class facilities for generations to come", he added.