Council return reveals total cost of Nuneaton’s Bermuda Bridge project

Warwickshire County Council has refused to reveal the final final cost of the Bermuda Bridge project in Nuneaton. Shire Hall has stood by its position last year that the public will not know the true costs until after the project is complete.

Now that the bridge has opened, CoventryLive has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the final costs from start to finish, including the costs incurred by the well-documented delays. In a response, the board said it considered the information exempt under Section 43 of FOIA – Harm to Commercial Interests.

“This is because there is a very likely risk that providing this information would reveal commercially sensitive and/or confidential information relating to the businesses, products, services and financial advice of third parties of a confidential nature,” it said. answer.

“Disclosure of this information could harm the commercial interests of a third party in a free market because the information in question could allow a competitor to gain an unfair advantage by knowing detailed information about their business.”

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I contested the FOI response. Meanwhile, the latest publicly known figure was revealed at a county council scrutiny meeting last week, with the latest cost being £16,192,000.

The initial estimated budget for the project is £3.702 million. The latest figure shows the project is already four times over budget.

Available in “autumn”

CoventryLive has contacted the county council about the decision not to release the final costs now as promised. In a statement, a spokesman said: “The full cost of the works is being finalized with the contractor.

“During this process the details are commercially sensitive and must therefore remain confidential. It is anticipated that the final costs of the scheme will be available later this year once the final account process has been completed.”

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