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Yes this sounds like a much travelled route by contractors...secure the contract then inflate the cost...Its an open cheque book.When will they ever learn?

[bold]What a suprise![/bold]

[bold]To make up the rest of the shortfall, the council is banking on Barratts selling enough flats at Honeycombe Chine to trigger a sales-related payment of up to £750,000.[/bold] With the current housing market?????????

Do any construction contracts NOT go over budget nowadays? I'm sure it will be worth the money in the long run but, if it is successful, what will stop some of the surfing hotspots in Devon and Cornwall doing the same? My son is a surfer and he says that one of the main reasons for doing it is the getting out in the countryside and 'chilling out'. Despite living only 20 miles from Bournemouth he says he cannot see himself using this new reef as Bournemouth doesn't have the right vibe. He says it's more 'chav' than 'chilled' - his words not mine!

Hey, just sell some more car parking space - the benefit is two-fold - extra cash and no-one can park, so then you don't have to build the reef. In fact they've already pushed out the volunteer lifeguards from their hut in Boscombe - I guess all those concrete beach huts are to be sold to private investors as well.

In theory the reef is a good idea, but as pointed out in previous news releases and comments on this, where everyone was asked to do the homework, this clearly has not been done again. So much so, that the Council have ensured a clause in the contract that if it fails, they get some sort of compensation. How is that for assurance. How can the Council, in this present housing market be sure of getting money back on the sale of houses by Barretts. Is this not a haphazard way of doing business. Now the rest of any projects once again are put on hold throughout the town, subject to getting some of the cash back. Perhaps if pay rises were not first on the list, there would be some money available. Or, as you are closing down schools, or amalgamating them, why not use some of the £90m you have set aside for the school projects. There's Hawaii 50, and Bournemouth Oh Oh, dear, another blunder

Shock horror! You only get the contract if you undercut the opposition .... doh!

Shock horror! You only get the contract if you undercut the opposition .... doh!

Next year they will blame the government for a hefty increase in council tax. I thought the Lib Dems were bad enough but this lot appear to be Nu Labour councilors.

[quote]The extra money also guarantees the reef's completion this year and has paid for a performance-related clause that will ensure the council is compensated if the reef does not work. [/quote] With the developers and those with vested leisure interests who are now Bournemouth Councillors, what a pity such a clause cannot be included in Councillors' contracts, i.e. they are not paid by the Council Taxpayer if they don't work! I forecast this is not the end of this Surf Soap Saga!

OK, it's over budget and the Council don't understand Project Management at all, which is why construction and project delivery costs always escalate, they should have signed this into the contract at the start NOT MAKE CHANGES NOW!! This is what increases costs, if it was all signed into the original agreement I'm sure it would be half the cost increase as it stands today BUT with the reef built, it will be amazing for the South Coast and the revenue will easily be returned with the new vibrancy brought into the Towns, I can't wait to not only use the reef for body boarding and surfing but also when I move back to Dorset I'll be surfing all the time!! Well, as long as there's a wave or two ;)

I look forward to seeing toll collection agents out on their boards charging users £2 per set. that should get the money back.

I think it's a marvelous idea as is the new proposed ski jump on Southbourne cliffs. Thankfully the council has only to sell off one or two carparks to fund it, via building the odd flat here and there. Trebles all round !

I think it's a marvelous idea as is the new proposed ski jump on Southbourne cliffs. Thankfully the council has only to sell off one or two carparks to fund it, via building the odd flat here and there. Trebles all round !

some facts.. http://www.bournemou thsurfreef.co.uk/

I presume the Council's legal department scrutinise these contracts? The words "Fixed Price" comes to mind. What is the point of submitting estimates and tenders if the price given is open to so much manipulation? As a matter of interest, has the Council had work done where the finished job has come in under quote?

some facts... http://www.bournemou thsurfreef.co.uk/

Should have created the surf reef by dumping the IMAX in the sea ... would have killed two birds with one stone :-)

So where is the improved car parking? People with surf boards are not going to want to carry them all over town and on buses etc. Surfers will need close cheap parking or they will just go elsewhere.

" House prices increased in the area 30% in 18 months during 2006/2007 as a result of news about the surf reef." What evidence has the council of any linkage here ? As to getting people to the beach Boscombe now has battered old buses running from the Sovereign centre to the pier on the hour. Whoopee do ! Unsurprisingly they are empty. As are the heads behind this farce - unlike certain pockets though !

http://www.bournemou thsurfreef.co.uk/ I think it was a Council Site that put the following on. The sheer amount of waffle is suspicious. The MP should be informed and an independent enquiry by council tax payers representatives should look into this. Why have the costs of the reef changed? The final construction element of the scheme, the Surf Reef, is the most innovative and complex part of the Boscombe Spa Village project. Being the first of its kind in the Northern Hemisphere and with the intricacies of British tidal waters, it was only possible to have a more precise cost estimate once the sea bed surveys had been carried out and detailed engineering construction and management requirements specified. We are now able to commit the entire £9.66million capital receipt and the £750,000 expected sales-linked payment to regenerating Boscombe seafront, resulting in an absolute state-of-the-art surf reef for Boscombe. Taking this projected change in expenditure and incorporating the financial savings made in other elements, the cost of delivering the Boscombe Spa Village redevelopment itself is entirely covered by the original capital receipt from Barratt Homes. Part of this capital receipt has already provided funding that helped shape the highly successful restorations at Boscombe Chine Gardens, but the projected overage payment ensures no cost to the Bournemouth tax payer. The 2006 construction cost figure of £1.359 million was the best estimate that could be made at the time for what was a totally new marine engineering project for Britain. It is only now the detailed specification work has been done that the actual cost can now be projected. The cost for the reef has now been finalised, and the project itself is still funded within the capital received from Barratt homes. The cost variances have arisen as a result of: • longer than anticipated time to receive government consents, specifically in relation to the Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) licence due to the complex and unique nature of the project, brought with it additional inflationary building costs and meant that much of the sand harvested for the reef’s construction was displaced through natural weather conditions, meaning additional sand has had to be bought. • During this 12-month period whilst negotiating the FEPA licence, the reef design was finalised and the construction methodology determined. This involved careful refinement to the design and the construction methodology, taking into account two years of advancement in reef design and build technology to ensure the most up-to-date technology, and the highly complex technical installation requirements for a tidal location in Britain. This means we now have a reef that is far more advanced than any previous models. It has been specifically designed for surfing conditions in that part of Boscombe, which means carefully tailored sand-bags in terms of size and where they are placed, and a much more stable construction. This will result in excellent consistency in terms of wave height and shape, giving a much better quality surfing experience overall. • Since the licence has been granted, the designers of the reef, ASR Ltd, have also been commissioned as the constructors of the reef on a performance-based contract. This ensures the reef will perform to pre-stated standards and minimises risk to the Council. The final £150,000 construction payment to ASR Ltd will only be paid when we are certain that the quality waves we have specified are actually achieved at Boscombe. The contractor has also accepted an obligation to complete the construction of the reef by the end of this year. How much economic value will the surf reef provide? An Economic Impact Assessment has suggested that the reef will provide direct income of up to £3million per annum, and the image value of the reef alone is estimated at £10million. It will generate an estimated 60 full-time and 30 part-time jobs. A survey in Cornwall revealed that surfers spend 8% more than other holidaymakers. The surf reef will place Bournemouth firmly on the UK surfing map and will be the most innovative sports and tourist attraction in the South. The reef will act as a ramp, pushing waves upwards, doubling their size and improving their shape for surfers. As a result, the number of good surfing days will be doubled. Bournemouth already has an established surfing community, but the reef will act as a draw for visitors to the area, enhancing water sports on offer including kite-surfing, windsurfing, wake-boarding, kayaking, SCUBA-diving, sailing and skim-boarding. Not only will the reef be a free water sports facility, it is a green, ecologically friendly feature. The reef uses no man-made energy, but harnesses nature’s energy. Full implementation of the scheme, including the surf reef, is imperative for the Council to derive the improved revenue streams from the project which are incorporated in the Leisure Services’ budget. These include income from the new beach chalets and the catering and retail opportunities to be provided by external contractors at the Pier Entrance Building and the Overstrand complex. The surf reef is the vital catalyst for improving the area. Already it is having a positive effect with new boutique hotels, such as Urban Beach, opening up in preparation for an increase in the affluent surf consumer market. New boutique shops such as SourceD Clothing, unique cafés such as Boscanova and the Whole Food Co-Op are changing the community. The project has attracted high-profile names such as Red or Dead founders, the Hemingways, to work with the Council. Wayne Hemingway, HemingwayDesign, who is redesigning the Overstrand building in Boscombe seafront says: “We love Bournemouth and the Boscombe Overstrand project is one of the most exciting we’ve ever done. With the great work being done on the Pier and Europe’s first artificial surf reef, Boscombe is about to become big news. We are designing wonderful, unique beach chalets for both surfers and beach lovers alike. We want to re-establish a sense of community on Boscombe seafront, by creating something modern and unique.” On the seafront the surf reef and super beach huts will be accompanied by a surf retail outlet, a surfing school and a glass-fronted restaurant offering fantastic panoramic views of Bournemouth and the Solent. There will also be a catering outlet selling good-quality food-to-go, an RNLI beach lifeguard station, changing rooms, toilets and hot showers, all contributing to the major transformation of Boscombe seafront. House prices increased in the area 30% in 18 months during 2006/2007 as a result of news about the surf reef. Will there be plans for additional car parking on the East Overcliff? When planning permission was granted, it was a condition that no permanent additional parking on the East Overcliff should be developed until a review had been undertaken two years after the project’s completion. If the traffic impact review shows that additional parking is required, the Council will re-examine the situation for the East Overcliff. In the interim the promised electronic parking space signs have been installed and the Park & Ride scheme has been launched to ease congestion

Park & Ride for surfers.. intelligent councillors - I think we need counsellors! How about knocking some buildings down and creating more parking - like the Honeycombe Chine development.

I'd like the surf reef to be built but I'm not sure it should be, especially if the cost keeps rising. Do those in charge of making the decision to build this actually understand enough about surfing to know what they're doing? They seem to think they're somehow turning Boscombe into a surf spot by building a reef. It's a bit like building a big hill in Essex to turn it into a ski resort. Sure, one or two days a year, maybe even one or two weeks if the hill is high enough, it will have snow, but unless they spend millions on creating snow as well it's a waste of time. The surf reef can not create waves when there is no swell, it just shapes the swell as it breaks. Boscome actually already has a perfectly acceptable wave on those rare days when there is swell and favourable winds, shaped by the sandbanks. Also - those that know surfing know that big, wide open beaches attract thousands of surf tourists. Reefs attract a few hard core expert surfers and usually a gang of 'locals' who do not welcome outsiders to their patch. This wave, located considerably further out than the end of the pier and so more exposed to wind and tide will be less suitable for beginners and intermediates, and probably work less frequently than the wave kicked up by the current sandbanks. It will be an intimidating place to surf because it's so far out, and if the local surfers do break with tradition and welcome all comers they will be the first in the world to do so. Having come this far I hope it does get built, but only because it is this or nothing. There are far better ways to spend three million pounds to help surfing, and this project is beginning to smell rather rotten.

It stunk way, way back. This was no more than a sop to get hold of a bit of very valuable real estate. The biggest surprise is not what is coming out now but that locals were gullible enough not to see through it right from it's first proposition.

we're in recession so whos going to be buying property ,all done at the wrong time for too much money - wish i had tendered for it ,its overpriced schemes like this that are breaking the economy of this country

It will stop being called Bournemouths Surf Reef, and revert back to " The Boscombe Surf Reef, as it should be, but only as it may now have a problem. Just where did the council think surfers were going to park, in the precinct possibly, with all the surf shops clamering to open. You can have a wonderfull facility, a the most unique natural tourist attraction in the northern hemisphere you would have us beleive. However as this is the UK, we have given no thought as to were they should park or have access to the reef, unless they buy an over priced rabbit hutch. It sounds like profit and greed lead the agenda without a thought for the style of person uses a reef all year round. No cheap/free access for the campervans no surfer dudes, just a lot of second home owners with a view over a natural reef, or just empty balconies with for sale signs on.

Perhaps Bournemouth could take a leaf out of Poole and rent half the Chine development to council tenants.

Usual suspects, usual negatives. Stop and think. Car park - without it's sale would the pier be open now? NO! Without it's sale would the Overstrand stand derelict and decaying to a point of collapse? Yes! Who would want to park in what was a derelict resort with no a closed unsafe pier and a derelict collection of buildings anyway? These types of buildings encourage vandalism the area drops further into the mire. [bold]THINK![/bold] The sale of the car park has paid for all this AND the reef. I work in construction, putting a tangable figure to this without committing a huge ammount upfront with no DEFRA approval would have been a huge gamble. Well done to the Council for getting so much out of Barratt for the car park and actually spending it where they said they would! Fingers crossed the reef is a huge success and brings in the millions to the local economy to again go back into the area. Go to the seafront, stand on the end of the pier and think, car park spaces dereliction, or restoration and grand forward thinking plans? If it doesn't work as planned it will be a huge lagoon and the pier and overstrand will still be shining examples of something not happening without taxpayers money elsewhere!

[quote][bold]Megnom[/bold] wrote: Perhaps Bournemouth could take a leaf out of Poole and rent half the Chine development to council tenants.[/quote] Good idea - at least council tenants would be better than Barratt homeowners.

I imagine, and hope that the reef manufacturers ASR Ltd have confirmed that THEY have Insurance cover to support their "Refund Gaurantee" to Bournemouth Council, in the eventuality that they might go bust? What protection do we have if that should occur?

I imagine, and hope that the reef manufacturers ASR Ltd have confirmed that THEY have Insurance cover to support their "Refund Gaurantee" to Bournemouth Council, in the eventuality that they might go bust? What protection do we have if that should occur?

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