Inflation impacting project delivery in Mayo

RISING inflation is impacting the delivery of infrastructural projects in Mayo.

A playground in Bohola is the latest cause for concern with a tender coming in €30,000 over budget.

Another well publicised project is the climbing wall at Lough Lannagh, Castlebar, where the tendering process threw up a gap between the funding available and cost involved.

Councillor Adrian Forkan has raised concerns about escalating construction costs, warning that rising inflation in the construction industry since tendering have put the Bohola project at risk.

Communities investing heavily in local facilities deserve better support from senior council management, he told a Mayo County Council stategic policy committee meeting, pointing to the Bohola playground project where costs have risen by more than €30,000 since it went to tender.

"Prices only go one way," he said, warning that council delays were compounding the problem.

The community raised €100,000 to invest in the playground and were rightly asking questions about why the project had not been delivered, he said, emphasising that the issue did not lie with parks department staff.

Parks superintendent Peter Gill said he does receive strong backing from senior management, but acknowledged that cost inflation is a real and growing issue across all projects. He cited the example of a GI fund wheelchair-accessible roundabout that he has seen risen from €14,000 to €29,000 due to inflation in recent times.

Mr. Gill confirmed that the Bohola playground has come back €30,000 over budget following tendering. Officials meeting to discuss the situation and will need to push hard to find additional funding to bridge the gap.

He praised the scale of community investment involved. "That €100,000 from a community is the key part of it."

A meeting is to take place to search for a solution for the impasse on the Bohola project as the shortfall remains and could signal concerns for other projects set to break ground across the county.