Budget of planned Whitby Maritime Hub increased to more than £1m by Scarborough Council

Scarborough Council approved an additional budget of £900,000 to progress the planned Whitby Maritime Hub to pre-construction RIBA stage 4.

Approval was given on Wednesday, January 11 to appoint Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd, a privately-owned contracting firm, to carry out the design of the works because no tender returns were received through the YORbuild3 framework.

Scarborough Council has also been unable to secure an operator for the Hub due to concerns about financial risks and the “unpredictable nature of the current economic climate including utility prices”.

The funding for the project will come from the £17.1m that was given to Whitby as part of the Government’s Town Deal scheme which awarded Scarborough and Whitby a total of £37.3m.

The Whitby Maritime Training Hub is set to offer training and certification for the maritime, offshore and renewable energy sectors and build upon the diversification of the town’s existing fishery industry training school.

A council report states that officers have discussed the tender situation with organisations that expressed interest in being tenants of the building and “they have continued to advise they are interested in taking space, but not the risks of operating the entire facility”.

The report adds that the authority will “carefully manage project costs until a sustainable business case and business model for the operation of the venue has been established”.

A budget of £414,000 was originally established for the project to progress feasibility works and so far £291,000 of that budget has been committed, according to the council.

The report adds that £1.5m of expenditure “is required” in the financial year 2022/23.

As the works have not yet been designed, the final cost of the works is currently estimated and the actual cost of the works once tendered “could exceed the budget, especially with current market conditions within the construction industry”.

However, Scarborough Council has said that if the eventual price of the construction contract offered by Willmott Dixon is not acceptable, the authority will own the rights to the design materials prepared under the contract “and could use these to undertake a new single-stage tender”.