The saga of the Duncan McKinnon grandstand and pavilion ‘redevelopment’ continues. Council minutes now reveal that the tender has finally been awarded and that the contract price is $9,744,651.52.
We’re astounded at the apparent inflation rate. All along residents have been sold different versions of what this will cost. The 2011/12 budget stated –“$5.5m for Duncan Mackinnon in 2011-2012 and $1.8m in 2012- 2013”. This year’s budget tells us : “Duncan Mackinnon – $1.09m for Duncan Mackinnon Pavilion construction in 2012-2013 (plus carry forward from 2011-12)”. As for total costs, these are anybody’s guess – something that is surely reminiscent of the increasing costs associated with GESAC. Public pronouncements started off at about $7 million. Then in June last year, the price was announced as being $8.8 million. Now it’s just under ten million and this doesn’t include ‘design’, road restructuring, car park extensions, and so on.
Questions:
- How can there be a million dollar jump in the space of less than one year?
- How can there be a several million dollar jump in cost in the space of 2 years?
- Have residents and councillors been told furphies as to cost all the way along?
- Where’s the extra money coming from since council can’t borrow anymore?
- How much has already been spent on ‘design’?
- Has the delay and subsequent price increase been the direct result of financial blowouts over GESAC? Are we heading down the same path with Duncan McKinnon?
- Are other services being cut in order to fund Duncan McKinnon?
Glen Eira Debates 
May 27, 2012 at 1:59 PM
I think a few more questions should be added to the list so people know exactly what’s going on. To start with I’d like to know how many tenders there were and how many criteria these companies were assessed against. Other councils provide this information but not Glen Eira. When you’re spending so much money then all should be out in the open and not secret.
May 27, 2012 at 10:21 PM
Here we go again. Massive projects to the East of our Municipality and nothing West of Hawthorn Rd.The Councillors representing this deprived area should hang their heads in shame. Council has a responsibility to represent all it’s ratepayers.
May 28, 2012 at 7:32 AM
Very impressive!!! Another hugely expensive open space gobbling facility that will hardly be used – if this is Council’s idea of how to satisfy the residents very vocal concerns, expressed at the recent community plan forums, then they would do well to do a rethink.
The residents want the parks maintained and they want good sporting facilities but they do not want huge expensive under utilised facilities at the expense of other services. Another Glen Eira wide concern very vocally expressed at the community plan forums was traffic management – congestion, traffic volumes and speeding in local streets. Council’s take on that was to include 4 traffic calming treatments in the budget and those treatments are not even defined – they could simply be 4 rubber speed cushions (estimated cost $8,000 each)
Think about it folks – what would you do
. spend $10m on a new razzle dazzle pavillion, or
. spend say $5m on pavillion renovation and allocate the remainder to road safety and drainage works.
I know where my vote goes
May 28, 2012 at 7:34 AM
Is this really needed?. I cant see what is wrong with the building. It is like the swimming pool. On a 35 degree day where are people going to go GESAC or old and daggy Carnegie. Carnegie every time.
May 28, 2012 at 8:16 PM
The Duncan McKinnon building was in need of some renovation. However, you are correct, replacement is unnecessary and another example of profligacy.
The E.E.Gunn reserve pavillion, which is in constant use, is in need of major renovation. It is old and outdated. Yet council lavishes funds on the expensive and rarely used monument to waste in Caulfield Park. And the unnecessary re-building of the pavillion in Princes Park to cater for Ajax.
May 28, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Agree- with both conments above.
The only way to get the info on names of tendeers, their prices & Council tender assessment criteria & process & names of tender assessment panel is to ask a pointed PUBLIC QUESTIONs for the next Council meeting (22 June I think- check the Council website). Public questions should be emailed to xxxxx@gleneira.vic.gov.au (check the Council website for exact email address). Questions must be received before 12noon on the day of the Council meeting . Also its importnat you provide your details as follows:
Name in full
Address
LANDline phone number
anon
May 28, 2012 at 4:11 PM
Address is: mail@gleneira.vic.gov.au
May 28, 2012 at 5:04 PM
None of these comments raise anything new. The secrecy with which this administration and its lackey councillors work has been highlighted by the blog countless times. If I remember right, then more than half of in camera items are not declared and nearly one third of all agenda items are held in secret. That should not be anyone’s idea of an open, accountable, and transparent council – especially when millions upon millions of dollars are spent on projects that are highly suspect and not cost effective. The Duncan McKinnon pavilion is the perfect example of what I consider to be a total waste of at least $5 million. It may be lacking modern facilities. If that’s the case then an upgrade would have been a lot cheaper.
I see that Neil Pilling has put a rather lame excuse up on his blog trying to explain the delay in this project. It’s been talked about for at least 4 years and some funding approved at this same time. Nothing happened though for years on end. If the budget was in such good shape, then the project should have proceeded on time. Blaming Vic Roads and staff shortages is not feasible in my view given that staff are hired willy nilly and Vic Roads can surely be pressured into speeding up their approvals.
I also don’t remember a vote in council that clearly passed the motion about the go ahead for this project. The only item that I recall is a planning application to change the roads and car park surrounding the reserve and not the central issue of whether to build the grandstand and pavilion. These arguments were probably brought out incidentally. They should have been the central focus as the Victory Park upgarde was. The way it was done is underhanded and un-democratic – something that is not alien to the goings on in Glen Eira.
May 28, 2012 at 6:17 PM
10 million bucks ain’t bad when you’re declared at high financial risk and keep hiring staff. We’ll be broke by the time Newton goes.