BCP Council officers ask for extra £1m for new Poole homes

The development would see seven old buildings at the former Bournemouth and Poole College site in Constitution Hill, Poole, demolished and replaced with 98 new affordable homes. 

Demolition of the site is expected to begin in January, with the council hoping that work on site will begin in November 2025 and the whole scheme be finished in September 2027. 

An initial budget of £430k has already been approved, funded by prudent borrowing. But now officers want to raise this to £1.424m. 

The building has been abandoned for years (Image: Daily Echo)

A report detailing what has been done and what needs to be done says £460k of the extra £1m is needed for the demolition of the existing buildings. 

The report says that extra money is just to get the project to the planning stage and also includes £50k for electric, gas and water isolation and meter removals, £72k in planning fees and more. 

Since December 2023 when the plans were first unveiled, the council has spent £70.1k on an architect (currently on hold, but could cost up to £304k). 

It has also spent £6k on the structural design of Lady Russell Cotes House, £5.4k on asbestos surveys, £14.2k on ground investigation £3.8k on agricultural surveys, £30k on topography surveys, £42k on bat and badger surveys and £67.6k on employers agent fees. 

Overall, the proposed scheme is expected to cost £28.535m, funded by external grants, council borrowing and the use of Right To Buy receipts originally earmarked for the Princess Road development. 

Money would be transferred to the council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA), if approved. 

The report says: “The full build business case will require an increase in the council overall threshold for borrowing.  

“The audit and governance committee will therefore be asked to recommend to council an increase to the level of borrowing following the production of both the full business case and a 30-year HRA business plan demonstrating that the debt is affordable.” 

Of the 98 homes that are expected to be built, 76 are for social rent, 10 are temporary accommodation and 12 are specialist accommodation. 

Councillors are now being urged to accept the officer’s request for an extra £995k, by delegating the power to do so to the chief operations officer Glyn Barton in conjunction with the director of finance Adam Richens and the director of law and governance Janie Berry.