City takes action on civic centre build

The City of Fremantle has taken action to ensure the management of the Walyalup Civic Centre build in the wake of Pindan Constructions going into liquidation.

Council at a special meeting last night (Tuesday 8 June) agreed to directly engage the contractors previously working for Pindan on the project and will now take further measures to expedite completion of the project with the support of a Managing Contractor.

The civic centre and library, as well as children’s playground and other features, will be the jewel in the crown of the rejuvenated heart of Fremantle in what is the biggest single redevelopment project in the port city’s history.

Deputy Mayor Andrew Sullivan said the Council had acted quickly and decisively to ensure the project would be completed and opened to the public as soon as practical and with minimal delay and extra cost.

“Our priority is to ensure the successful and timely completion of the works with the least possible disruption.  We are committed to seeing through this project which will bring new life to the centre of Fremantle and is more than 90% complete,” Cr Sullivan said.

Key Pindan staff working on the project have been temporarily added to the City’s workforce and a managing contractor will be appointed following an immediate tender process. This will enable key construction works at the site to resume, possibly within a few weeks.

These moves, along with the calling in of insurance bonds, would provide continuity and certainty for contractors and confidence for the community that the project will be completed efficiently and cost-effectively, Cr Sullivan said.

The City’s Director of Infrastructure Graham Tattersall, who is Project Director for the Walyalup Civic Centre project, has committed to ensure the most appropriate and effective delivery model is established and implemented as soon as possible.

Mr Tattersall said the employment of the Pindan site project team was a critical move that would enable momentum from the work already done to be maintained through to completion.

“The construction team will essentially perform the same role that they have provided on the project to date and the contractors who have already been working on site will continue to be there.

“The work done has been of a high quality and while the situation with Pindan has been unfortunate, we are confident that with the right support from a suitable Managing Contractor we have the expertise and experience required to finish the job and do it well,” Mr Tattersall said.

External façade, roofing and interior fit-out are among the works still to be completed as well as landscaping.

Mr Tattersall said further updates regarding the project and completion timeframe would be provided as the situation progressed.