COUNCILLORS heard of 'serious concerns' over the spiralling costs of the move out of the North Quay site.

At a meeting of the Weymouth and Portland Borough Council management committee yesterday, councillors were presented with feedback from a consultation for the plan which is expected to save around £200,000 per year.

But Cllr Ian Bruce said he had 'serious concerns' that the cost of making adaptations to buildings which council services are to be transferred to has increased to up to £700,000.

And addressing the committee from the public gallery, Andy Hutchings said holding council meetings at the Mulberry Centre could hinder members of the public who want to attend because of parking issues.

Other councillors warned that further delays over the relocation will cost even more. The move is expected to be completed by October 2015.

Cllr Colin Huckle said: “We have slipped six months and I hope very much we don't slip any further because it will have significant knock on effects to the setting of our budget.”

And Cllr Ray Nowak added: “Slippage on this will cost us money. There's speculation that we are not really serious about this and it's up to us to make it very clear to people in our communities that we are deliberate about this.”

The report presented to councillors states that there is no onsite provision of parking at the Mulberry Centre, but there are car parks in the area and the area is well-served by public transport. Staff would be entitled to park in the Swannery car park.

Chairing the meeting, Cllr Mike Byatt assured Mr Hutchings that the parking issue will be discussed by councillors at a members working group.

Cllr Bruce said: “I have serious concerns which I will not go into, but I will simply say that I understand originally it was going to cost £400,000 to make adaptations to the premises that we were moving into. That figure has now gone up to £650,000 to £700,000.”

But Cllr Roebuck branded Cllr Bruce's comments 'misleading'.

He added: “The plans have changed. What was originally proposed was not to make changes that are now proposed at Crookhill. We are talking about significant renovations. It's not the case that the figure has gone up but nothing has changed.”

Jason Vaughan, director of resources, told councillors that the costs of moving will be funded through the sale of the Guildhall and from the Transformational Challenge Award (TCA) bid from the tri-council partnership.

Councillors approved the recommendations set out in the report, including noting the outcome of the consultation and the drawing up of further reports if the project costs exceed the budget.