The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Spiralling cost of Greenway revealed
F.O.I. REVEALS ORIGINAL COST WAS WAS €4.7M COST STANDS OVER FOUR TIMES ESTIMATE
THE true scale of the ever-increasing costs of the South Kerry Greenway has emerged this week with the project more than quadrupling in the past six years.
The original estimated cost of the project in 2014 was €4.7m yet, in 2019, the council said it would cost €22m.
The spiralling costs of the project were criticised by the Department of Tourism and Transport, according to emails released in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for documentation between the Government Department and Kerry County Council between 2014 and 2017.
The Department stated that it was “rapidly losing faith in the council to construct the project at any reasonable cost” in 2015.
A submission was made to the Department of Transport and Tourism in 2014 for funding for the project, which had an estimated cost €4.7m at that time.
This subsequently increased to €5.5m in April 2015. Two months later this was €10m, then €13.5 and by December 2015 the project costs were €16.3m.
At the oral hearing last year the cost of the project was revealed as €22m. Six years on, however, no sod has been turned.
A planning decision on the proposed development is due shortly from An Bord Pleanála. This will also determine if the council can CPO and then build the land.
The FOI revealed that land acquisition costs were not included in the original project proposal and ultimately only became an issue in early 2015. That same year the issue of CPO arose. Engineering issues also came to light, resulting in further increased costs on the project.
THE cost of the South Kerry Greenway has more than quadrupled in six years it emerged this week.
The original submission to the Department of Tourism and Transport in 2014 estimated the cost of the project was €4.7m. The cost in 2020 is €22m (now inlcuding land acquistion costs which were not originally included), the oral hearing into the project heard last year.
An FOI request by journalist Anne Lucey and Radio Kerry has revealed the interactions between the Department of Transport and Tourism and Kerry County Council on the development and the cost of the project from 2014 to 2017.
The documentation also reveals concerns by the Department of Touism and Transport on whether Kerry County Council is capable of delivering the project at a reasonable cost, particularly in the early years of the project. The attitude of the Department changed in documentation following a visit to the county in late 2015 to visit the location.
Kerry County Council was granted funding of €3.4m for phase two and three of the project in April 2014. In June 2014, funding was also granted, of €450,000, for phase one, at a time when the project outline was divided into three phases.
All grants came with terms and conditions. Some confusion between the parties arises over this in subsequent correspondence.
The date for completion of the phases in this grant application is 2014 to 2016, but six years on, there is still no South Kerry Greenway.
In a letter from the Department regarding the funding of €450,000 for phase one, it clearly states that phase one must be completed within 12 months. In August 2014, internal documentation released in the FOI shows that concerns were raised about whether or not the council could complete phase one.
“If this commitment is now proving too onerous or ambitious, we would ask that assess the deliverability of the project within the current parameters and then advise the Department on what is realistically achievable over the next 12 months”, it said. In a progress report at quarter four of 2014, land acquisition concerns were raised. However, the council still maintained that the three sections could be built by 2016.
Four years later, there is no sod turned on the project.
In early 2015, a briefing note for a meeting with Minister Kelly, said land-acquistion costs were not included in the original project costs. This is dated February 10, 2015.
In March 2015, in a letter to the Department, the council stated that they would be using CPO to acquire the land. Five years on, this remains a significant issue for the Greenway project and was subject to weeks of evidence at the recent oral hearing. The letter also asked for the funding granted to be maintained to allow the project to progress
An internal Deparment memo in 2015 states that the “design/planning/construction costs are now estimated at €10m which is a substantial increase on the €5.5m flagged in April.”
The Department sent an email to Kerry County Council in which they query these increased costs. Kerry County Council explains the costs are due to land acquisition and construction costs for the 27km route, at €3m and €6.5m respectively. This drew further criticism from the Department according to internal documentation when it appeared that these construction costs did not include a significant section of the project.
“It would seem that the €6.5m construction does not now include a significant section (the Glenbeigh to Mountain Stage section) with no alternative provided which is not quite what was said at the meeting with Minister Kelly. I’m rapidly losing faith in the council [to] construct this at any sort of a reasonable cost”.
In a follow-on email, it is stated that the project appears to be an “expensive facility”
“Their construction cost seems to be €393,000 per km for the full... length. Our estimates of construction cost are in the range €l40,000 to €200,000 per km, but ground conditions will have a big influence on this and they may well be right I would imagine.
A meeting subsequently took place in July 2015, which saw the project costs rise to €13.5m. Engineering costs at mountain stage are outlined as a significant issue. The Department and TII attend a workshop and site visit in late December, following which the Department praises the project.
“The site visit and subsequent workshop also made clear that the staff in Kerry County Council have looked at every possible solution and have not simply gone for a gold-plated solution as the first option.” Kerry County Council re-iterated this week that the increased costs arose as the council was still working out the design of the project at that stage and said that the South Kerry Greenway was a ‘forerunner’ in developments like this.