£7m Exeter green energy projects face axe

Appeals for an extension of the deadline have fallen on deaf ears

A £7million project to make two Exeter landmark buildings greener by installing state-of-the-art heating systems could be scrapped.

Exeter City Council had planned projects at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) and the Riverside Leisure Centre, including new systems and insulation, and the government had already come up with £6.4 million to pay for it.

The council itself would have put in nearly £900,000.

But a report for the executive committee next week says there is no prospect of the work being done within budget before a government deadline of March next year.

Appeals for an extension of the deadline have fallen on deaf ears.

The report says: “Due to challenges at both sites and the immovable grant funding spend deadline, the project overall cannot proceed.

“To continue spending money on the projects will expose the city council to unacceptable levels of uncertainty and financial risk.”

The RAMM and the leisure centre are the council’s biggest energy consumers, which made them eligible for the grants.

The museum part of the project has been projected to go £1 million over budget, while the report highlights ‘uncertainty and risk’ over the rest of the Riverside building if work goes ahead on the roof.

The council has already spent more than half a million pounds on preparatory work ahead of the ‘decarbonising’ project, which it says it hopes to get back from the government.

Surveys will continue so that the council is ready to get the projects back under way if and when a new round of government grants is offered.