Cash-strapped Bradford to top up Darley Street funding
The cost of the three-storey city centre market, handed over by main contractor Kier in June, has gone up by a further £2.42m as the city battles to bring flagship projects to fruition.
Bradford’s executive meets on 3 September, and in the ‘new capital schemes’ segment of the meeting, will be asked to note the budget increase for the market, which will open next year as Bradford enters its City of Culture year.
The project was started in April 2021, and the main construction phase has been completed. However, several factors, as outlined in the report to the executive, have impacted the project.
These included design changes and additional work during the demolition phase, when foundations of surrounding buildings were exposed following the demolition of the M&S building, meaning temporary and permanent propping-up was required.
The overall cost of the three-storey market had already climbed from around £23m to £27m, with a further £1.4m already signed off. The council remains positive on the market, pointing out that it is responding to traders’ wishes to not disrupt Christmas trading, and instead aim for early 2025. Stall take-up has been strong, it said.
Darley Street Market is intended, in time, to replace the Oastler and Kirkgate markets, which are in line for redevelopment as part of the Bradford City Village masterplan, on which the city is working with ECF. Initial images of the ambitious 1,000-home project were released in May.
The 3 September executive meeting will also hear an update on the scale of the financial challenge faced in a wider sense, with a £17m projected overspend against departmental budgets.
Faced with such issues, Bradford is seeking to raise £100m through asset disposals over the next two years.
Thus far, it has only brought in £800,000, but a further £4.7 of deal are in solicitors’ hands, with a further £47m of assets set to come to market, with £13.2m in the pipeline beyond that.
Not yet identified are the assets that will make up the remaining £34m: a further review of the council’s estate is ongoing which is looking at 350 additional sites/land for possible disposal, of which sites worth £9m have currently been identified and are to be added to the pipeline.
A further saving is expected to be made, in time, by moving council staff into City Hall and Britannia House, a project that will cost £4/6m upfront, but save £1.1m a year in external real estate costs.
There is little in the way of good news coming from the Bradford Live venue. The redeveloped former Odeon was scheduled to open in November under the stewardship of NEC Group, but events planned for the venue have been cancelled or moved.
The Campaign for Real Ale’s Great British Winter Beer Festival, a four-day event inked in for mid-February 2025, will instead be held at Rotherham’s Magna centre.
In early August, the Telegraph & Argus published an open letter to Bradford Live, the council and the NEC Group asking for more transparency on the £50m project’s status.
NEC Group has been contacted for comment.
