Delays are the order of the day for major council projects at the moment but, while we may expect this, we shouldn’t let it become an excuse, Councillor Steve Peterson believes.

With council recently revealing cost blow-outs and delays for the new Conservatorium of Music/Planetarium and the Bloomfield sports stadium build, both are now finally racing towards the finish line.

While much blame for opening deferrals and construction issues has been placed on the unsettled international scene and imported supply problems, Cr Peterson argues that this should not act as an all-purpose excuse.

“When I asked at Tuesday’s council meeting, I was told that events overseas were interfering with sub-contractors getting supplies and that was slowing things down,” Cr Peterson said.

“They said that overseas contracts and importing supplies were issues but, while this is predictable, that doesn’t mean it has to be acceptable,” he added.

The council meeting heard that, as well as delays, continuing cost blow-outs were still plaguing the new sports stadium at Bloomfield that was originally forecast to be completed in 2023 at a cost of $25 million.

Latest estimates are that the reconfigured project will not be completed until April next year at the earliest, at a cost of more than $75 million.

With work on the innovative new Conservatorium of Music and Planetarium also ballooning from an original estimated $20 million to now $37.05 million, Cr Peterson asked if a half-opening of the new facility — whose timeframe has also been extended until later this year — year would be possible.

“I requested to the council planners, if the Conservatorium, which I believe is near completion, could be opened earlier than the Planetarium. They said that, ‘No, this is not possible’, as the full building will need to have a ‘Certificate of Occupancy’ to use and, while the building is now waterproof, they said it won’t be open until August or September.”

He said that the sports complex — including the 10,000-capacity John Davis (OAM) stadium featuring a 1350-seat covered grandstand — also probably won’t be ready for next March’s NSW poll.

“They did want it to be completed for the next State election, with our latest target for finalisation in December this year.

“However, that has now been pushed back to April 2027 for the athletics tracks as part of the ‘Athletics Stage II’ component that also includes a couple of carparks,” Cr Peterson revealed.

“While [cost blow-outs] happen, it’s not just a matter of saying ‘Oh well, that’s the way it is, I suppose’, that should not be good enough,” Cr Peterson said.

“We should be sure that all delays and cost increases are both genuine and unavoidable,” he concluded.