The project is now proceeding at pace.

We have excellent news in that WDC has confirmed at its December 2023 Cabinet meeting that they still fully support the project and have agreed a budget that enables the health centre to be built.

The joint project team is making progress with the key legal documentation which is expected to be signed-off in early 2024. This then enables the design and build contract to be placed shortly thereafter. The first contract activity will be the detailed design – based on the preliminary designs which were used to provide indicative costs for the project.

A meeting with WDC planners in December has confirmed that their particular requirements should not result in any increase in the budgeted cost for the project. However they do have some specific requirements for changes to the initial design which will need to be incorporated into the final design. This means that there will be a delay to the planned public consultation whilst the design changes are made, but these should not impact the overall timescales, and in particular the targeted completion date of end 2025.

Overall there is a pro-active plan of campaign to ultimately lead to a successful conclusion.