We have been working hard to progress the project through regular meetings with the contractor and our partner Wealden District Council (WDC). We all recognise that this is an important building which will serve our community for many years to come.

It is a complex project with many factors to consider, however the fundamental difference between this and the previous project is that we are doing a lot more pre-planning work to ensure we reduce the issues that may impact timely construction.

The project is approaching the end of RIBA stage 3, which means that the basic design has been completed sufficiently so that a final costing exercise can be undertaken by the contractor. Costings have been sought from a selection of sub-contractors and various further value engineering options have also been investigated. This is an opportunity to look at ways we can reduce the expenditure without affecting the building and so the contractor is looking at numerous options but which is taking longer than we’d hoped.

With this in mind, we have taken the decision to hold the planning application originally forecast for this month whilst finalising stage 3 costs.

Meetings are being scheduled with WDC and Baxall Construction to finalise the options going forward.

Whilst this is frustrating the Project Board has agreed this is the best way to proceed.