Council faces £4.2m bill for problems uncovered at former department store

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A council faces a £4.2m bill to fix unforeseen structural problems uncovered during the redevelopment of a former department store.

Carmarthenshire Council is spending the additional sum on its Atriwm health and leisure development at the former Debenhams store in Carmarthen, with the overall project now expected to cost £41m.

The authority will not be able to recover the £4.2m from the company which built the store because it has ceased trading and any guarantee has expired.

The problems only emerged after parts of the building were opened up during refurbishment and have resulted in some wall façades having to be rebuilt and new wall ties installed.

Speaking at a meeting of full council Labour opposition leader Cllr Deryk Cundy said the project cost had risen from an initial £19.6m and asked if the unforeseen £4.2m overspend could be recovered.

Cllr Lenny said the initial £19.6m was based on “a conceptual design” as part of a successful bid for UK Government funding. The scheme then expanded following further design work, he said, to include an activity centre, greater use of floor space, and additional health services which in turn required enhanced mechanical and electrical installations to meet clinical standards.

Cllr Lenny said extra external funding was secured and that the project, like many others, experienced post-Covid construction sector inflation.

Hywel Dda University Health Board and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David will occupy space at Atriwm along with the council. It’s expected to be ready early next year.

Cllr Lenny said: “I have seen the clinics, therapy rooms, and dental units and so on already kitted out to the highest standard. The Atriwm will be a medical and leisure facility without equal in any other town centre in Wales bringing great social and economic benefit for Carmarthen town and the wider area.”

He said an independent building survey at the outset hadn’t identified any significant structural issues apart from the condition of the roof and that further problems only came to light during refurbishment when parts of the building were opened up.

It’s meant some wall façades have needed rebuilding and new wall ties inserting. Cllr Lenny said the former store would have gone to “rack and ruin” without the council’s intervention and that it continued to work with funders to see if the authority’s extra outlay could be minimised.

Cllr Cundy said he appreciated the issues were unforeseen but the extra spending seemed “an awful lot of money” which could have gone elsewhere.

Assurances

He asked Cllr Lenny for assurance the £41m cost – which is being split between the UK Government (£20.19m), council (£11.45m), Welsh Government (£9m), and partner contributions of just over £300,000 – won’t be exceeded.

“I am confident that the revised budget fully reflects the scope of the project that is now being delivered,” replied Cllr Lenny .

The Plaid cabinet member said Atriwm would be value for money and that you couldn’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.

He said those who disparaged it – although he added he wasn’t saying Cllr Cundy was in that camp – “may end up with egg on their faces in the new year”.

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