DURING a special council meeting held last week, Greater Shepparton City Council councillors awarded the contract for the new Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) build to Kane Constructions PTY LTD, moved the motion to agree to the new budget of over $50M and agreed to enter into a lease agreement for a new solar farm.
Council advertised under Section 223 of the Local Government Act its intent to enter into a lease agreement for a proposed solar farm at the GV Link land east of Toolamba Road and the railway line in Mooroopna. This land had been set aside for water detention as part of the future GV Link project and council officers recognised an opportunity that the area north of the proposed water detention basin could be suitable for a solar farm.
Following the meeting last week, council will enter into a lease agreement for the land with GVCE Mooroopna Solar Pty Ltd, for a term of 25 years with an option to extend the lease for an additional 25 years.
Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor, Cr Kim O’Keeffe said it was positive to see continued investment in renewable energy projects.
“Renewable energy initiatives support the ongoing sustainability of Greater Shepparton, local businesses, industry and jobs,” Cr O’Keeffe said.
Following a two staged procurement process for the SAM build, five submissions were received and evaluated, with two tenderers progressing to a shortlisting stage, with Kane Constructions being recommended as the preferred contractor.
During the tender evaluation process it was identified that bids received were above the adopted build budget, with bids ranging from $47.3M to $51.7M (including GST). The difference between the estimated cost versus market value of the build of the new SAM has been attributed to an acute increase in the price of construction materials, in particular concrete and steel, due to significant generational construction works currently being undertaken across the state.
“With more than $100B worth of new roads, rail lines, hospitals, multi-storey buildings, wind and solar farms and other infrastructure being built in Victoria, a consequence of the boom is large scale demand for materials, especially concrete and steel,” Mayor O’Keefe said.
“And unfortunately this leads to unanticipated cost escalation for large scale projects such as the new SAM. The reality therefore is that the high demand from major infrastructure projects has pushed up prices of these materials which was not expected.”
Construction works on the new SAM are set to begin this month.
