Concerns about school delays are raised again

Westmeath County Council has again raised concerns about the pace of progress on Curraghmore National School’s new home on the Ardmore Road.

In the latest progress report on the €5m project, the council said that new move-in date of the end of October will be only be met if more resources are allocated by the Longford-based building contractor PJ McLoughlin and Sons Ltd.

The report states that the design team for the project “have expressed concern to the contractor throughout the project about the level of resources employed by the contractor and the progress of works on site”.

“This construction programme will only be achieved if the resources are employed by the contractor in line with the programme. Therefore, the design team have requested the contractor to provide details of the resources they plan to provide. The increased level of resources on site, noted at the end of June, has not been sustained. Resources on site during July have been lower than expected. This is due in part to subcontractors taking builders’ holidays. The contractor is still projecting completion by the end of October. WCC and the Design Team will continue to do all in our power to assist the contractor to deliver the new school facility as soon as possible.”

Work on the school began in September 2017 and was initially scheduled to take 12 months. Due to what the report describes as “unforeseen bad ground conditions along the southern boundary of the school” and a “severe and prolonged winter”, delays were encountered early in the project.

The building contractor and the council are engaged in a conciliation process relating to a dispute over the 24 additional working days granted by the design team in recognition of the delays.

The report also states that although a number of construction programmes have been issued by the contractor “milestones on these programmes continued not to be met”.

Staff and parents of pupils attending the school have voiced their frustrations at the ongoing delays. Due to the lack of space at the school’s current base one of the incoming junior infants classes will be temporarily housed in St Loman’s GFC clubhouse, while the children a the school’s new ASD unit will have to travel to St Etchen’s in Kinnegad.