Agenda item

8.44pm – Councillor Liam Downer-Sanderson moved, seconded by Councillor Jose Afonso, the special motion in their names.

 

“This Council calls on the Administration to set out the full details of the overspending and delays to the Civic Campus and explain why this has happened.”

 

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Liam Downer-Sanderson and Jose Afonso (for the Opposition).

 

Under Standing Order 16(d)5, Councillor Lisa Homan moved, seconded by Councillor Stala Antoniades, an amendment:

 

“Delete all after “This Council” and replace with:

 

“… notes that the delay in the completion of the new Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus was due to an accident during which the subcontractor of the contractor dropped one of the main steel supports. Thankfully no one was hurt. As with all such developments, the building site is under the legal charge of the contractor until the works are completed. This accident initiated an immediate shut down of the site while the independent Health and Safety Executive carried out an extensive review. The Health and Safety Executive is the relevant independent national regulator for Great Britain. This is what has caused the delay.

 

The Council notes that this delay along with Brexit, the Pandemic and Liz Truss’ Fiscal Event, contributed a marginally higher cost than originally envisaged and this has been reported through all relevant channels which included a briefing to the opposition and an exempt report to the borough’s cabinet meeting which included members of the opposition. These slightly higher costs are in line with other building cost changes over this period.

 

The Council also notes that despite these marginally higher final costs, the overall costs of the new Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus is still significantly lower than the controversial Hammersmith Town Hall scheme which this borough’s former Conservative administration had previously saddled the borough with.

 

The Council also notes that additional to this, and in direct contrast to the Conservatives’ former scheme, the Civic Campus scheme allows the council to:

 

1. Significantly reduce all its office costs across the borough
2. Make a substantial annual profit that will contribute to the running of high quality services and keeping council tax low
3. Builds into the sky over the old Town Hall Court Yard Carpark therefore leaving other council land for housing, retail, hospitality and rentable office space
4. Rejuvenate the central belt of the borough with:
   1. A five-screen arthouse cinema
   2. A public sky park
   3. Homework space for local children
   4. Affordable work space for local start-up entrepreneurs
   5. A public sky restaurant
   6. Restaurants, cafes, shops and other public facilities
   7. A concert hall
   8. An art gallery
   9. Two new public squares

                                               i.     Unity Square – on the site of the former Town Hall extension

                                              ii.     The Town Square – on the site of the former Town Hall Court Yard Car Park for senior council directors and councillors

 

The council supports the Green Energy measures built into the Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus and recognises that these will also keep energy costs low.

 

It also supports the work undertaken to make the Civic Campus one of the most accessible buildings in the world for Disabled people.

 

The Council recognises that the former Conservative administration’s development scheme for Hammersmith Town Hall failed when the developers said it was not properly budgeted and was undeliverable. The Conservatives scheme involved:

 

1. Using council owned land to build 196 luxury flats which were to be marketed off plan to overseas property investors which at that time were largely those buyers in Russia, the Middle East, and the Far East
2. Keeping the dreadful Town Hall Extension but using the Tri-Borough framework to procure cladding for it which the Conservatives argued would improve its look.
3. Keeping the Town Hall Courtyard Car Park for senior council directors and councillors which the Conservatives argued was essential for their travel needs.
4. That despite putting in all the land, the minimal funds raised by that scheme would be shared with its private sector partners and that this would not have produced sufficient funds to refurbish the dilapidated old Town Hall. That meant:
   1. The Conservatives’ scheme would have continued to cost large amounts of the borough’s annual budget just to meet health, safety and employment standards.
   2. The old Hammersmith Town Hall would not have been fully refurbished
   3. That would have required the council to continue to rent other expensive buildings across the borough.
5. Zero new public space
6. Zero genuinely affordable housing
7. Zero annual profits
8. Zero rejuvenation of the borough’s central belt

 

The Council notes that the Conservatives Town Hall scheme followed a patten of financial incompetence that also saw the former Conservative administration financially unsound measures which include:

 

• Selling of Fulham Town Hall for just over £8million
• Selling off the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates for £102million while failing to recognise that this land formed one third of the total former Earls Court site which was immediately later valued at £12.05billion.

 

This Council thanks the hundreds of residents who have worked with it to design the new Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus. In particular, it thanks the Civic Campus Commissioners and the Civic Campus Disabled Residents Team.”

 

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Lisa Homan, Stala Antoniades, Callum Nimmo, Wesley Harcourt, and Stephen Cowan (for the Administration) – and Councillor Jose Afonso (for the Opposition).

 

Theamendment was then put to the vote:

 

FOR                        30

AGAINST                10

NOT VOTING         1

 

The amendment was declared CARRIED.

 

Councillor Downer-Sanderson then made a speech winding up the debate before the amended motion was put to the vote:

 

FOR                        30

AGAINST                10

NOT VOTING         1

 

Theamended motion was declared CARRIED.

 

9.27pm – RESOLVED

 

This Council notes that the delay in the completion of the new Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus was due to an accident during which the subcontractor of the contractor dropped one of the main steel supports. Thankfully no one was hurt. As with all such developments, the building site is under the legal charge of the contractor until the works are completed. This accident initiated an immediate shut down of the site while the independent Health and Safety Executive carried out an extensive review. The Health and Safety Executive is the relevant independent national regulator for Great Britain. This is what has caused the delay.

 

The Council notes that this delay along with Brexit, the Pandemic and Liz Truss’ Fiscal Event, contributed a marginally higher cost than originally envisaged and this has been reported through all relevant channels which included a briefing to the opposition and an exempt report to the borough’s cabinet meeting which included members of the opposition. These slightly higher costs are in line with other building cost changes over this period.

 

The Council also notes that despite these marginally higher final costs, the overall costs of the new Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus is still significantly lower than the controversial Hammersmith Town Hall scheme which this borough’s former Conservative administration had previously saddled the borough with.

 

The Council also notes that additional to this, and in direct contrast to the Conservatives’ former scheme, the Civic Campus scheme allows the council to:

 

5. Significantly reduce all its office costs across the borough
6. Make a substantial annual profit that will contribute to the running of high quality services and keeping council tax low
7. Builds into the sky over the old Town Hall Court Yard Carpark therefore leaving other council land for housing, retail, hospitality and rentable office space
8. Rejuvenate the central belt of the borough with:
   1. A five-screen arthouse cinema
   2. A public sky park
   3. Homework space for local children
   4. Affordable work space for local start-up entrepreneurs
   5. A public sky restaurant
   6. Restaurants, cafes, shops and other public facilities
   7. A concert hall
   8. An art gallery
   9. Two new public squares

                                               i.     Unity Square – on the site of the former Town Hall extension

                                              ii.     The Town Square – on the site of the former Town Hall Court Yard Car Park for senior council directors and councillors

 

The council supports the Green Energy measures built into the Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus and recognises that these will also keep energy costs low.

 

It also supports the work undertaken to make the Civic Campus one of the most accessible buildings in the world for Disabled people.

 

The Council recognises that the former Conservative administration’s development scheme for Hammersmith Town Hall failed when the developers said it was not properly budgeted and was undeliverable. The Conservatives scheme involved:

 

9. Using council owned land to build 196 luxury flats which were to be marketed off plan to overseas property investors which at that time were largely those buyers in Russia, the Middle East, and the Far East
10. Keeping the dreadful Town Hall Extension but using the Tri-Borough framework to procure cladding for it which the Conservatives argued would improve its look.
11. Keeping the Town Hall Courtyard Car Park for senior council directors and councillors which the Conservatives argued was essential for their travel needs.
12. That despite putting in all the land, the minimal funds raised by that scheme would be shared with its private sector partners and that this would not have produced sufficient funds to refurbish the dilapidated old Town Hall. That meant:
    1. The Conservatives’ scheme would have continued to cost large amounts of the borough’s annual budget just to meet health, safety and employment standards.
    2. The old Hammersmith Town Hall would not have been fully refurbished
    3. That would have required the council to continue to rent other expensive buildings across the borough.
13. Zero new public space
14. Zero genuinely affordable housing
15. Zero annual profits
16. Zero rejuvenation of the borough’s central belt

 

The Council notes that the Conservatives Town Hall scheme followed a patten of financial incompetence that also saw the former Conservative administration financially unsound measures which include:

 

• Selling of Fulham Town Hall for just over £8million
• Selling off the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates for £102million while failing to recognise that this land formed one third of the total former Earls Court site which was immediately later valued at £12.05billion.

 

This Council thanks the hundreds of residents who have worked with it to design the new Hammersmith & Fulham Civic Campus. In particular, it thanks the Civic Campus Commissioners and the Civic Campus Disabled Residents Team.