King William Rd upgrade budget blows out before work even begins

The major shopping precinct redevelopment will cost more than two and a half times the initial budget for the project.

No spade has broken ground on the King William Rd upgrade but the cost has been revealed to have blown out to more than two and a half times the initial budget of $6 million.

With contracts finally signed, Unley Council has confirmed the budget for the shopping strip’s first upgrade since the mid-1980s is $15.5 million.

The council failed to mention the budget amount in a lengthy media release announcing the project last week but the figure is recorded in minutes from an April 29 council meeting.

Eastern Courier Messenger understands Brisbane-based company BMD Construction will be paid more than $11 million to complete its part of the upgrade that will include repaving the road and footpaths.

The actual figure to be paid to BMD is redacted in publicly available council minutes.

A unanimous decision of council means all contract documents and discussions for the project will remain confidential for at least 12 months.

BMD will use the former Brethren Church site on Arthur St as its works depot during the development, scheduled to begin this month and completed by February 2020.

The site will also provide parking for employees working on the upgrade, alleviating the loss of parking space on the already congested precinct.

Under the Unley Council blueprint for the strip, the current pavers will be replaced, footpaths widened to allow for more outdoor dining and on-street parking reduced between Park and Union streets.

An artist's impression of the $6 million revamp planned for King William Rd. Picture: Supplied

Ben Willsmore (Manager of Urban planning, design and transport), then Mayor Peter Hughes and John Devine (GM, City Development) on King William Road, Hyde Park, in April 2018 when the project budget was $6m. (AAP/ Keryn Stevens)

Eastern Courier Messenger understands a contract of more than $1 million to provide the road pavers has been signed with a South Australian company after objections a Western Australia enterprise had been initially approached.

About 70 trees will be planted and planter boxes installed along the road, along with four new pedestrian crossings.

Retailer Louise Hewitson from Denim Inequity, whose family has been trading on King William Rd for 36 years, said she was delighted the project was finally approved.

“Bring it on, I say,” she said.

“The street desperately needs an upgrade with more trees to make it the premier strip it should be. We’re crossing our fingers to hope they’re no major upheavals.

“Council has consulted with the residents and traders to the extent it’s hard to know what more it can do.”

Unley is considering a rate increase of 2.1 per cent in 2019/20 and new borrowings of more than $11 million to deliver all proposed projects, including the King William Rd upgrade, and to maintain current service levels.

For a residential property of average value, the proposed 2.1 per cent rate increase translates to $50 per year.

Unley’s total borrowings for 2019/20 are $18.8 million on a total operating budget of around $49 million.

Unley Councillor Jennie Boisvert

Cr Jennie Boisvert said she was concerned about the “enormous” borrowings.

Her motion before council to consider an option of an additional rate increase of 0.5 per cent, raising $200,000 annually, to pay back debt on major projects was defeated by a vote of 8-4.

“I wanted to ask the people if they thought it was reasonable to start paying back our debt now,” Cr Boisvert said.

“We’ve got to pay it sometime otherwise the cost of servicing the debt will come out of discretionary spending.

“All the nice to haves will be gone unless we put new money into the budget.”

The council said it was raising sufficient income to cover its operating expenses and to undertake repayment of its debt.