A Newcastle councillor has raised questions over the cost of the city's new landfill site at Summerhill tip, which set back ratepayers $35 million after problems with the original contractor.
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Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes and deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen showed the media "Cell 9" last week, and City of Newcastle issued a statement saying the council had "invested $24 million into the construction of a new landfill site".
Cr Nelmes said the project had been delivered "on time and on budget".
The council media release did not mention the project's troubled history.
The $35 million comprises $11.5 million paid to the original contractor, whose agreement was terminated by the council in 2018 due to "performance", and $24 million paid to a second contractor to complete Cell 9.
It is more than twice the $16.524 million net cost outlined in a confidential briefing to the former council in November 2015.
This briefing did not mention a second stage of the project being the subject of a separate contract or budget.
The council voted unanimously in December 2015 to enter into a $16.374 million contract with Ditchfield Contracting "for construction of landfill Cell 9".
Stage one of Cell 9 started taking rubbish in 2017, but the council terminated its agreement with Ditchfield in 2018 due to "contractor performance" after paying the builder $11.5 million.
In late 2018, the council entered into a contract with Civil Mining & Construction for $22.798 million, excluding GST, to build stage two.
Cr John Church (Ind) questioned why the council had not announced the full cost of Cell 9 last week.
"It looks like a project that was supposed to cost $16.4 million has ended up costing ratepayers more than $35 million," he said.
"I believe a higher standard of accountability must be met when you are spending the public's money.
"This is not a good look for council following the massive blow-out in costs recently revealed at the rented administration building at 12 Stewart Avenue."
Asked what the original budget was for Cell 9, a City of Newcastle spokesperson said in a written statement that the landfill site had been "undertaken as two different projects given the need to continue operating the landfill site while its expansion and excavation took place".
"Stage one was delivered by Ditchfield in September 2017," the spokesperson said.
"This first stage of the expansion is reported on page 38 of the 2017-18 Annual Report and is described as 'Stage one'.
"A media release issued on 21 September 2017 to the Newcastle Herald reported the work as 'the first stage of the Cell Nine'.
"The project's stage two commenced in December 2018 and was completed 22 months later, which was on time and under budget."
The spokesperson said the "budgeted costs for both stages of the project were approved by council and are publicly available in the council meeting minutes".
"City of Newcastle elected not to proceed with Ditchfield for stage two of the works on the basis of concern regarding their proposed approach for excavation of the site."
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IN THE NEWS
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
