Those $1.2M Steps again – or was it $3.5M Steps (?) As quoted in this Daily News article.

You may remember back in November last year we ran a few stories about the $1.2M Steps to go in at Fitzroy Beach in 2025.

One of the news items we profiled was from the Stratford Press, where Sam Bennett was educating people about the needs of the disability community and the Tyranny of the Majority.

This November news item stated the NPDC had allocated $1,280,841 towards ramps and steps for Fitzroy Beach. Interesting the discussion was about how much was allocated to a budget, not how much the budget had blown out by.

Today’s story in the Daily News quotes:

“The original design outlined an extensive upgrade with multiple concrete footpath ramps, timber steps, a children’s slide, several rest areas and a viewing platform at the end of Beach St, with a budget of between $1.2 million and $1.4m.

However, those costs ballooned due to the extensive engineering and earthworks that were required, pushing the cost out to between $2.5m and $3.5m.”

People may recall the Tax Payers Union at the time had queried how much over $1.2M the cost of the project was going to be. We ourselves asked could the project get to $3M ?

Yesterday in the news we have confirmed for us that the budget had truly blown out to somewhere between $2.5M and $3.5M.

The good news is this project is being reviewed this week by the NPDC’s strategy and operations committee on Tuesday the 18th, with 3 options to be considered:

• Keep the original plan,
• Agree to the revised version
• Or scrap the idea altogether

Plenty of people have said $1.2M was a very large cost, now it appears to be a $1.4M budget for the “least complex” alternative version for the project.

Let’s hope if they do decide to go with the “least complex” version they will stay within the current revised budget that has been allocated.