NT Government reveals $7 million budget blowout for underground car park in State Square - ABC News - Jano Gibson Wed 9 Dec 2020
The underground car park has 450 spaces and can also be used as a cyclone shelter
The cost of constructing an underground car park next to the Northern Territory Parliament has blown out by more than $7 million, a budget estimates hearing has been told.
Key points:
· Design changes and asbestos remediation have been blamed for the car park's increased cost
· The underground car park was built as part of a wider plan to reduce radiant heat in Darwin
· Two other NT Government projects have also been delayed or had cost blowouts due to asbestos
The 450-space car park was commissioned by the Gunner Government almost three years ago to replace 300 ground-level car spaces as part of a plan to reduce radiant heat in the Darwin CBD.
When the project was put out to tender in January 2018, the Government indicated it would cost up to $32 million but the contract ended up being awarded to NT-based company Tomazos Group for a much lower price — $19.4 million.
However, it was revealed at budget estimates on Tuesday evening that the total cost of the recently completed facility ended up reaching $26.7 million.
Design changes to accommodate new landscaping requirements have been blamed for part of the budget blowout
Bureaucrats from the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics [DIPL] told the hearing on Tuesday evening the increased costs were linked to two factors.
Firstly, the need to remediate asbestos discovered on the site had added $2.7 million to the overall bill.
Secondly, the design of the three-storey underground structure had been altered to accommodate new plans for the surrounding State Square precinct, which were only finalised after the car park tender had been awarded.
"We believed [Tomazos Group] had the capacity and they were the right contractor to do it, and they were the most expedient way of getting that job finished," DIPL chief executive Andrew Kirkman said.
In January this year, former Speaker Kezia Purick and former independent MLA Gerry Wood raised concerns about the way the project was proceeding, describing it as "unsatisfactory" and "poorly executed".
Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler was still describing the car park as $20 million project in a press release she issued in February this year.
NT Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler told the budget estimates hearing the recently completed project will benefit the area
But despite the higher than expected costs revealed in estimates, Ms Lawler told the hearing the underground car park offered significant benefits to the CBD.
"It is an amazing facility that can be used as a cyclone shelter, but it also takes 450 car parks and provides that beautification to the area," she said.
The estimates hearing was also told of several other government-commissioned projects that have been affected by the discovery of asbestos.
Remediating the dangerous substance at the site of a multi-million-dollar playground at Myilly Point, on the edge of the CBD, had added $1.1 million to the project's cost.
Ms Lawler said the construction of a $10 million police station in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff had also been delayed by the discovery of asbestos there.
While she did not say if the remediation had added to the cost of the project, she said the facility was expected to open in mid-2021.