Bristol Beacon council spent more than on school buildings, flood defenses and parks combined last year

City council bosses spent more money on the final stage of the Bristol Beacon refurbishment last year than on school buildings, flood defenses and parks combined, it has been revealed. The authority’s annual accounts show it invested a further £22m in refurbishing the concert hall in 2023/24, all of which has been cancelled.

It means that, adding to the previous running total of £93m, the total sum now written off for renovating the venue is £115m. A Conservative councilor described the project as a “financial disaster that cannot be understated”.

The council says the venue, which reopened in November, is a “vital cultural asset for Bristol, which has the potential to generate £13m into the Bristol economy each year”. As previously reported, the cost of the work almost trebled from £48m to £132m – of which £84m fell to the city council, far more than the original expectation of £10 million – after the condition of the Victorian building was considered. a “worst case scenario”.

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Structural engineers found bare pillars supporting roofs, unknown Elizabethan well shafts and weak arches that were simply covered, hidden and left unrecorded. Former Mayor Marvin Rees’ administration decided to go ahead with the renovation after reviews showed the alternatives were even more financially calamitous.

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Interrupting the project, shutting down the hall and restarting after a year would have cost £165 million, while abandoning it completely and ensuring the safety of the venue – requiring breaking contracts and potentially repaying millions in grants – took more more than £200 million. But in 2022, auditors Grant Thornton accused Bristol City Council of “underestimating the complexity and difficulty” of the redevelopment and that its “failure” to have effective management arrangements in place from the outset caused the bill to pass.

Now the authority’s draft accounts, covering April 1 2023 to March 31 this year, show the project was the third biggest spend in its £232m capital programme, which represents a long-term investment long for improving big things like buildings, roads and infrastructure. The biggest chunk, £100.7m, was in council housing, including £42m to build new homes.

A further £43m was paid for transport schemes such as the Clean Air Zone, some flood defences, the regeneration of Bedminster Green, buses, the New Cut Bridge upgrade, street lighting and road maintenance. But it was followed by £21.9m for Bristol Beacon – almost double the next-biggest investment area, £12.2m for school buildings, including extra student spaces to meet growing demand.

The main part was in the Year 7 ‘bulge’ classes and the extension program for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Bristol Beacon spending was also almost double the £11.5m housing enablement work to provide affordable homes, including regeneration schemes Hengrove Park, Filwood, Lockleaze, Glencoyne Square and Southmead.

Next up is £6.7m for flood defenses and green infrastructure in the Avonmouth and Severnside Enterprise Zone, in partnership with South Gloucestershire Council and the Environment Agency, followed by £6m for Temple Borough regeneration. A total of £4.3m went to energy efficiency schemes in homes, £4.2m to IT improvements, £4.1m to home adaptations and £3.6m for “new housing opportunities as part of the refugee resettlement program”.

Around £2.7 million has been invested in the South Bristol Light Industrial Workplace project, £2.2 million in building maintenance and landfill, £1.8 million in parks and green spaces, and in rounding the top 15 were £1.1m in capital grants to community organisations. “to support the improvement of assets”. The accounts said the capital program was funded by a combination of £42m of borrowing and £190m of grants, contributions and reserves.

Referring to the Bristol Beacon’s former name, Cllr Hucker (Conservative, Stockwood) said: “The Colston Hall refurbishment project is a financial disaster for Bristol council and taxpayers. The magnitude of this disaster cannot be understated and is largely unmitigated.

“The council borrowed £50m in the last financial year. Without the excessive expenditure on Colston Hall it would not have been necessary to borrow this money.

“This is in addition to the significant funds the council has already consumed to fund this project.” He said last year the council announced the Bristol Music Trust, the charity which operates the venue, would hand some profits back to the local authority in a bid to recoup some of the cash.

“However, the fact that the cost of refurbishing Colston Hall is still written off indicates that the venue is still considered by auditors to be of little or no economic value to the council,” Cllr Hucker said. “It therefore seems likely that this arrangement will not make a significant difference to the council’s finances.”

As previously reported, a “lessons learned” report ordered by Grant Thornton to prevent other major projects from suffering a similar fate has been delayed for months but will finally be presented to the audit committee next month. A Bristol City Council spokesman said: “Bristol Beacon is a world-class venue that sits alongside the best concert halls and music venues in Europe.

“It is a product of significant financial investment by many organisations, including the council, trusts, foundations and the generous donations of 9,000 citizens across the city. It is a key cultural asset for Bristol, which has the potential to generate £13m into the Bristol economy each year.

“The refurbished Bristol Beacon has already been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people and provides an inclusive hub for community learning and education. This response from residents and visitors in the first six months of the lighthouse’s reopening gives the town value beyond the price tag on bricks and mortar alone.

“In addition to the net benefit to the city from the boost to our cultural and entertainment sectors, we also see thousands of children and young people already benefiting from the venue’s music education spaces and hundreds of jobs created directly linked to Beacon. ” A spokesperson for Bristol Music Trust said: “As the independent music charity responsible for operating the Bristol Beacon on behalf of Bristol City Council, our mission is to create unity and joy through live music for the whole city.

“Since reopening six months ago, over 130,000 people have heard world-class music in our transformed venue, over 2,300 children and young people have made the most of the new spaces to practice and perform, and we’ve presented over 200 of concerts, including community festivals Be Kind Bristol and We Care Week, which would otherwise not have had a home in the city.”