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Wednesday 5 April 2017

Knowle relocation project: adding Manstone to the bill

There are costs:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: selling, borrowing, speculating

And there is the spin to minimize the costs:
Futures Forum: Debunking fake news in East Devon with 'on-line open-source investigation'

The East Devon Watch blog has added up a few figures:
EDDC Manstone Depot relocation cost so far: £70,000 – £106,000 | East Devon Watch

This is what appears on the EDDC website:


Cost of planning application at manstone depot site


Date submitted: 11 February 2017


Summary of request


> Could you provide me with any such references to this project (other than the planning application itself), either as documentation or weblinks.

> And could you provide me with the full and exact costings for this planning application: the building costs of the new offices and where the finance for this project will be coming from. 


Summary of response


> Could you provide me with references to this project (other than the planning application itself) either as documentation or weblinks 

This element of the relocation project, as with all other relevant matters, is discussed and noted in the minutes of the office accommodation working party and project executive group meetings. These minutes are available to the public online here http://eastdevon.gov.uk/access-to-information/historical-information/relocation-project-documentation-archive/ and these pages are updated on a quarterly basis so any minutes not yet published will soon be available.
The easiest way to extract the data you need is to use the “find” facility and enter key words such as “Manstone” or “depot”. If you are unsure how to do this, please let me know and I can talk you through it.


> Could you provide me with the full and exact costings for this planning application; the building costs of the new offices; and where the finance for this project is coming from


Full and exact costings are not yet known. We have a working estimate which indicates that the cost of this element of the project is likely to be between £71,750 and £106,750 but, as we will soon be securing bids for this work, we are not prepared to disclose our budget estimate breakdown as this will seriously weaken our contract negotiating position and our ability to achieve best value for the work needed. We are withholding this information under Reg 12(5)(e) of the Environmental Information Regulations. We believe that the overall budgetary cost being in the public domain allows for the public interest in this matter to be adequately served. 

This is an existing costed element of the relocation project and £100,000 is included within the overall re-location budget for this project and was in the budget when considered by the Council back in March 2015.


Date responded: 9 March 2017

Freedom of Information published requests - East Devon

The full FOI request can be found at the WhatDoTheyKnow website 
- with the latest reply from the District Council:

> I would be grateful if you could indicate exactly where I can find the 
reference to the information you refer to: “This is an existing costed 
element of the relocation project and £100,000 is included within the 
overall re-location budget for this project and was in the budget when 
considered by the Council back in March 2015.” Thank you.
This cost is included within the overall budget figures (i.e. it is a 
separate line within the budget) but it is not reported as a standalone 
item.
> Is the “most recent cost report for the project” you refer to the same 
as “the independent and positive cost modelling of relocation” the press 
statement refers to?
The reference in the press statement is to the fact that the sum has been 
included in the budget for some time and was included at the time the 
budget was subject to the independent analysis and positive endorsement by 
Grant Thornton in March 2015. The most recent cost report is what was 
provided to you in our previous response.

Costing the relocating of the Estates Dept to Manstone - a Freedom of Information request to East Devon District Council - WhatDoTheyKnow

In other words, the EDDC Manstone Depot relocation cost so far: £70,000 – £106,000
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