The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Delayed town project hit by more ‘bad luck’
‘FRUSTRATION’ AS SCHEME IN BEDLINGTON LOSES SECOND CONTRACTOR
AN announcement on the future of the long-awaited Bedlington town centre development is expected in the coming days after a second contractor for the scheme went into administration.
Long-standing Tyneside construction firm Surgo saw administrators appointed last week, with the loss of 46 jobs.
The company was appointed to deliver the second phase of the Bedlington project after previous contractors Tolent also folded just over a year ago.
The development has been in the pipeline for the last eight years. In that time, just one retail unit, now operated by Greggs, has been completed on Market Place.
The Greggs store was completed by Northumberland County Council’s development company Advance after Tolent went into administration.
Advance are leading on the delivery of the scheme on behalf of the county council.
The second phase of the project includes three more new retail units as well as six apartments. Work got underway in November, but has now stalled pending the appointment of a new contractor.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the council’s Corporate Services and Economic Growth scrutiny committee, officials from the company gave members an update on the situation.
Director of projects Andrew Mowbray said: “We are in discussions with a number of contractors and sub-contractors.
“We felt that was the best and quickest way to get that project back on track. There is positive news expected in the next ten days. We’re all working hard to get that one back on track.”
Bedlington West councillor Malcolm Robinson asked why Advance couldn’t take over as they had done when Tolent collapsed.
Mr Mowbray said that this was an option for the site.
He added: “We’re exploring all options. With phase one, a lot of the building work was substantially completed, there was much less work to do.
“The decision taken to continue that in house was the right one. This time around, the foundations are just completed and the next stage would be to produce the steel frame, so it’s much more appropriate to appoint a contractor.”
Officials said Advance would carry out due diligence on any contractor appointed, arguing that the issues that brought down Surgo could not have been foreseen.
Speaking after the meeting, Bedlington Central councillor Christine Taylor said: “We’re at a standstill yet again which is very disappointing. People are very frustrated.
“We are of course disappointed that the people who work for Surgo have lost their jobs, but we’re also unhappy with the delay. If we didn’t have any bad luck, we would have no luck at all.
“This has been going on for eight years. We need something.”