Toowoomba Regional Council plans to ramp up projects ahead of shortfall in capital works program

The Toowoomba Regional Council needs to deliver nearly $80m in capital works projects in just two months, as crews get ready to ramp up.

Toowoomba Regional Council needs to deliver $78m in capital works over May and June.

Poor weather, delays in material supplies and a lack of staff have been blamed for why the Toowoomba Regional Council is nearly $30m behind budget on new capital projects.

The council workforce will need to deliver $78m in capital works in the final two months of the financial year to meet its targets, says acting finance and business strategy general manager Ann-Marie Johnston.

Having revised down its capital works budget from $215m to $191m in February, Ms Johnston said the council had only completed $113m in works as of April 30.

“We have seen, as we expect at this time of the year, our project delivery certainly ramping up,” she said.

“There have been challenges around the projects during COVID, especially with the delay in the receipt of materials.

“In some cases, we’ve been waiting 30 weeks for those materials to come in, and we’re seeing the delivery happening now.”

“The wet and cold weather has impacted our ability to put the final seal on some projects, and we’ve also had challenges around filling long-term vacancies, which have now been addressed.”