Staff changes, contractor availability and rising costs have contributed to the Maleny placemaking project being pushed back to mid next year. Construction to improve Maleny’s main street, which had been earmarked to commence this year, has been delayed due to numerous factors including changes to key personnel on the project placemaking team and a blow out in costs.
With the Maple Street enhancement project not set to commence for at least another 12 months, Division 5 Councillor Winston Johnston said at this stage he hoped the project would kick off in July or August 2024. With contractor and material availability also needing to be factored in, Cr. Johnston said although he had managed to extend the original budgeted amount of $2.75 million to secure funding of up to $3.5 million, the project would most likely require additional funds.
“In my opinion, with construction costs rising, to achieve what the community wants, I’d say we’ll need between $6-7.5 million,” said Cr. Johnston.
Cr. Johnston said he had hoped to see work started, however realistically with contractor prices increasing and additional time required to have the opportunity for Council to bring new project officers up to speed, pushing the project back would allow more time to secure extra funding to match the expanded project scope.