Road savings help save City Hall
16 July, 2010
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has secured a massive $18 million in savings from his record Road Action Program and will now redirect them into saving City Hall.
Cr Newman said these funds would help reduce the burden on Brisbane ratepayers from the $215 million project.
“This prudent financial management means that we’ve just saved Brisbane ratepayers $18 million on the cost of fixing City Hall,” Cr Newman said.
The Lord Mayor is fast tracking 15 years worth of priority road works into four years on some of Brisbane’s busiest roads through the Road Action Program.
Cr Newman said that a total of $18.1 million was saved across 13 of the 22 RAP projects under construction in 2009-10 through competitive tendering, lower construction costs and projects finishing ahead of schedule.
“Since we embarked on our record Road Action Program in 2008 we’ve delivered almost $30 million in project savings – proof that we’re driving the ratepayer dollar further,” he said.
“We’re also looking to save about $68 million this year as a result of our efficiency review across the whole of Council, which will be used to offset the cost of saving City Hall.”
Brisbane’s City Hall closed its doors in December 2009 to undergo a major $215 million renovation over three years after it was found to be suffering from major structural and fire safety issues.
The Lord Mayor said about $70 million was allocated for restoration works in 2010-11. The $18.1 million in RAP savings are included in that total. About $50 million was spent last year.
Cr Newman said Brisbane residents were also being encouraged to donate to the City Hall restoration project via their rates bill and thanked those that already had.
“This iconic heritage building needs to be saved and every dollar we can get will help reduce the cost to ratepayers to fix it,” he said.
Last year Council also received $10 million from the Federal Government towards the Save City Hall project. A fundraising committee of high profile Brisbane personalities has also been set up to secure donations and raise awareness about the project.
Last month the Lord Mayor also announced that another Brisbane icon from the 1930s, the original Shingle Inn, would be taken out of storage and relocated into City Hall as part of the restoration project.
