Town hall rebuild costs more than double to £8m

The cost of repairing a crumbling town hall has more than doubled to £8m due to soaring inflation and further decay at the site, a council has said.

Work on the Grade II listed Ashton Town Hall, which has yet to begin, was originally estimated to cost £3.4m in 2020.

Conservative Tameside councillor Doreen Dickinson said the hike in repair costs "beggars belief"

Council leader Ged Cooney said the authority had "made mistakes" with the building, which had continued to deteriorate.

The estimated £8m repair cost comes after "extremely high levels of construction cost inflation between 2020 and 2023", a council report said.

Ashton Town Hall was closed in 2015 and Tameside Council moved its meetings to Dukinfield Town Hall and Guardsman Tony Downes House in Droylsden.

Ms Dickinson told the latest council meeting: "We are now being told that £3.4m will only cover basics and the full cost is estimated at £8m."

She said she found it hard to believe costs had risen so much, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Ms Dickinson added she felt this was a "de ja vu moment" citing a similar issue with the civic hall roof in Stalybridge which shot up in cost from £750,000 to £3.5m.

In response, Labour's Mr Cooney said building construction prices had risen higher than in other areas.

“Everyone knows deterioration happens and it gets worse", he added

"We might say something costs around £1m or whatever it is, by the time you actually get round to it later, you’re in trouble with a major problem."

Councillors agreed in March to use £3.4m of grant money to address immediate health and safety issues associated with the risk of falling masonry from the building.

The works will be funded by a Levelling Up Fund grant.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected]