A deputation to Full Council on 27th October stated that some important elements of the Sea Change project were not being delivered in accordance with the original project completion date of 31 March 2010. These elements included creative lighting linking Sea Road and Boscombe Precinct, improved disabled toilets and enhanced wheelchair access to the seafront.
The deputation asked the Council to announce how and when these elements of the project would be completed.
It is to be noted that when the project was approved by Council?s Project Gateway process on 3rd March 2009 the original project completion date announced and agreed with the funding body for this project was 31st March 2010.
The current timetable for completion of the project elements has been subject to some revision and agreement with the Project Board and funding body CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) since then and is as follows:
4 Disabled Accessible Beach Huts ? completion 31st March 2010
Boscombe Precinct architectural mood lighting scheme ? completion by 31st March 2010
Sea Road public art trail ? completion 23rd July 2010
Upgrade to public accessible toilet ? completed.
Boscombe Pier Approach interpretation feature ? completion 16th December 2009
New seating for Pier Approach Terrace ? completion January 2010
Seasonal beach wheelchair access trackway ? construction by 31st March 2010 (note installation 1st May 2010 in accordance with agreed operational procedures 1st May ? 30th Sept each year).
2.0 Recommendation:
That content of this report and the reasons for delays within the project as set out below are noted.
Reason for recommendation:
The Sea Change project is currently on course for delivery within budget and by overall completion date as stipulated by the CABE funding agreement. This agreement has been amended by CABE to allow time extension for completion of the Sea Road art trail element by 23rd July 2010 to ensure it is delivered in accordance with best practice for public artwork commissions.
Whilst any delay is to be regretted, the revised timetable has been due in large part to the overwhelming and unforeseen success of the accessible beach hut design competition. The staging of this international competition to secure a high quality new design resulted in 173 entries being received from leading architects and designers across the globe. The management of this competition during the summer and subsequent selection process required considerably more project management time resource than expected which in turn has impacted on the time available to develop other aspects of the project.
At the outset it was projected that the Boscombe Precinct lighting element would be completed by the end of December 2009. Delays have been encountered in securing permissions to install and identifying suitable technical solutions. There is also the need to secure Listed Building Consent. Increased project management resource has been approved by the Project Board to see this through to completion by 31st March 2010.
The Project Board have also increased project management resource
1 comments:
The Boscombe beach hut competition was in my view so successful it was a pity it seemed to get less publicity than , say, the bathing Beauties competition in Mablethorpe.
There was something on You Tube, at web.mac.com/beachhutman and more official outlets, but a brief calculation of work put in versus benefits got out makes it seem a bit like an empty beach hut on a beautiful summers day.
I hope more is made of that, or has the poor sales figures fromthe designer Hemingway surf pods let out some of the steam from the officers/councillors or their agents ability to be enthusiastic in a slow..very slow...market?
I do google alerts for the term "beach hut". I suggest this is a good way to watch for market opportunities being taken elsewhere, in case it is a problem of perception by the vendor rather than the customers that are out there.
In March I sold a beach hut at Barton on Sea (the size of a surf pod) for twice the cost 3 years previously. I thought I knew prices but I was
surprised and took the opportunity to sell.
I have no idea whether the Council can get what they are asking...and so much elsewhere is hype, or greed, or ignorance, but I am guessing your selling impetus has run out of steam...I know you have appointed a new agent.... but the piece on TV last night was about as lame as it could get...trying to be nice about it.... and may even be counter-productive in a world of appearances. Try Mark Orr Xchurch estate agent...if only for a talk through off camera, ( I have a clip of him doing this 7 years ago at Mudeford sandbank) if your new agents are slow to rise to the challenge. It is survival of the luckiest in the short term, when the going gets tough it is the survival of the fittest.
As a politician you will know someone has to do the work when no-one hands it to you when you have something they need or want. These are discretionary times, Oh, and I am no estate agent, or punter, ...horses for courses. I am just a beach hut focused blogger who is just as happy doing nothing really ...after all that is what huts are for.
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