15 April 2005
The long-running saga to rebuild Bath Spa will end up in court, the contractor sacked by the local authority claimed this week.
Builder Mowlem was dismissed by Bath and North East Somerset Council on April 8 and replaced by a fresh set of contractors, Capita Symonds.
Workers from Mowlem were ordered to leave the site on April 11. However, in an increasingly acrimonious dispute, the building company agreed to leave but said the council's order to quit was 'without legitimate grounds'.
In a parting shot, Mowlem criticised the council for failing to agree to an independent survey of the site before it left. This, Mowlem claimed in a statement, was typical of the authority's 'uncooperative, unprofessional and underhand manner… throughout the project'.
The council had sacked Mowlem because, it said, 'enough is enough'. Asked if the dispute would end up in court, Mowlem spokesman Brian O'Neill replied: 'I'm afraid so.'
The council's executive member for resources, Malcolm Hanney, also said litigation was likely and the authority would fight its corner. 'I would be surprised if there isn't any legal action. If people make claims against the council that are not valid, the council should resist,' he said.
It is the latest twist in a project to reopen the spa to the public for the first time since 1978. Originally the work was meant to have finished in 2002 and cost £13m.
But the council admitted this week that the spa would open next year at the earliest. The current cost of the project is £35m, although this could rise. Long-running problems include peeling paints in the pools and leaking floors.
However, the council said this was not the 'only issue' it had with Mowlem. The 'final straw' was Mowlem's refusal to find out why the floor in the steam room was leaking, said the council.
For its part, new contractors Capita Symonds said they would spend the first few weeks assessing the state of the spa before hiring sub-contractors to finish the job.
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