Family centre cost probe

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 21

Family centre cost probe

The new Wainoni-Aranui Family Centre building has 1 gone vastly over bud- [ get — and the Christ-i church City Council’s policy and finance committee is sufficiently upset about it to' start an investigation. The total council com-1 mitment to the 1 building is! only $60,235; the estimated' final cost of the project is' $119,600. Both the present community services committee chair- . Iman (Cr D. F. Caygill) and; I the chairman, in the last! [council, Cr P. N. G. Blaxal!,] were concerned that coun-' cillors were not kept in-i formed of reasons for each' higher cost. The estimate in March, [ 1976 was $67,400. But an [additional $20,200 for paving, a car-park, and contingency was not added. [ Then with council approI val, the project was expanded

at an added cost of $13,800. Later, inflation increased the I price by a further $6OBO. i Additional items not in the original estimate, in : eluding a play centre, added another $12,120 i “The committee should I have been informed along 'the line." said Cr Blaxall. “I ■think the future of commonlity centres could be in jeop lardy because of this project ■ 1 think it is an elaborate, overdone centre." I Cr Noala Massey, a mem I her of the community com jmittee that helped plan th' ;centre and raise money foi jit, said that “many luxury I things" went into the hail that cost too much. Hoe ever, it was the only facility of its type in the suburb and was badly needed. “How did we end up with a facility that coats far more than we had imagined?" said Cr Caygill.