Covid cost climb balloons Blackbutt CBD upgrade budget to $1.6 million

South Burnett Regional Council have voted to boost Blackbutt CBD project by a further $300,000, ballooning the overall cost to almost three times the initial budget.

Blackbutt's CBD upgrade has received a further $300,000 cash injection.

South Burnett Regional Council have voted to add an additional $300,00 the Blackbutt CBD redevelopment, expanding the total investment in the project to $1.6 million.

The hike in spending is being blamed on construction blowouts fuelled by COVID-19.

The project, which started with $550,000 of ratepayer funds and blew out by a further $750,000 back in April, was rolled out as part of nearly $2 million in federal funding provided to the council for local roads and community infrastructure.

At Wednesday’s general meeting, Cr Gavin Jones proposed to inject a further $300,000 in federal funding to the project due to Covid-19, which has inflated the price of materials needed to complete the project.

Blackbutt's CBD upgrade has received a further $300,000 cash injection.

“This project has incurred some substantial increases with materials and all that sort of stuff,” Cr Jones said.

“From the figures being put forward to me, the $300,000 is required for this project to continue and the make sure we do it once and do it properly.”

The extra funding is to be taken from round 3 of Council’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure funding.

Crs Kirstie Schumacher and Kathy Duff said they supported the cash injection, but would like to see a more detailed breakdown on exactly how the money is being spent.

Mayor Brett Otto said as the “southern gateway to the South Burnett”, Blackbutt should be a “showpiece” and both Les Muller Park and Coulson Street needed an upgrade.

The motion to increase the project’s budget was carried unanimously.