Cash-strapped council to spend further £600,000 on state-of-the-art watersports centre redevelopment of facilities at Lakeside Country Park in Eastleigh

Eastleigh Borough Council has invested in a £2.5m redevelopment of facilities at Lakeside Country Park in Eastleigh.

However, the council has revealed it will now have to spend a further £611,300 on the project.

This takes the overall cost including preliminary designs, officer time and construction to more than £3.1m.

Councillors gave the plans the go-ahead in November last year that will see the current storage barns and small visitors’ centre demolished and replaced by two new buildings twice the size.

The buildings will house six changing rooms, increased storage, toilets, catering, a function room with seating for 60 people, an office for staff and disabled changing facilities.

The site, off Wide Lane, is currently used for a range of activities such as canoeing, open water swimming, fishing and dog training and attracts 10,000 visitors a year.

It is hoped the modernised facilities will attract even more users.

A council report said that the extra costs were down to the effects of increased construction prices and tender price inflation which had increased returned tender prices.

The idea is that the facility will pay for itself through future income from the facilities, alongside £1m committed from the council’s New Homes Bonus – money that comes from central Government for building social housing - though council leader Keith House has said there are no plans to increase charges.

This means that the facility according to projections will have paid itself off in 31 years instead of 24.

The report adds that the council expects a net income of £1,000 in 2016/2017 rising to £5,000 the following year.

And it states that take up of the rooms for let in the new buildings has increased which may improve timings on when the project will pay itself off.

News of these additional costs comes as the council continues its efforts to save £4.7m in the next five years.

This year's budget reduced spending on services by £1.5m and although it is not certain where these cuts will be made all departments have been asked to look at where they can make efficiency savings or generate more income.

Work is ongoing at the Lakeside site where the current visitors' centre has been demolished and temporary cabins have been installed in the car park to replace the facilities.

The new centre is expected to open by spring 2016.

Cabinet members approved the extra spending at their latest meeting.