Bath mud-slinging does not wash with Mowlem

The row over the £35m Bath Spa project shows no sign of abating after Mowlem launched another stinging attack on Bath & North East Somerset Council (BANES) over its public mud-slinging approach.

In a statement Mowlem, which was ejected as main contractor for the project last month, criticised BANES for continuing to “sling mud” in the its direction and for making unfounded accusations.

Mowlem’s attack follows comments by BANES that the project was left in a “worse state” by

Mowlem than expected and that the project would now not be open until next Easter.
Construction work to complete the unfinished jobs left by Mowlem is not expected to finish until Christmas.

“When BANES broke our contract and we vacated the site on 14 April, it should have signalled a temporary respite to the unreasonable and groundless accusations to which BANES has subjected Mowlem over the past 12 months,” the statement read.

“Unfortunately this has not proven to be the case and BANES has continued to sling mud in our direction at every opportunity. Its allegations have been totally without foundation and have been designed more to save its skin than to save money for the council taxpayers of Bath.”

Aiming to set the record straight, Mowlem added that:

- It had warned BANES long ago that there were serious flaws in the design of the steam room floors.
- BANES has now acknowledged Mowlem’s argument and is using the same idea in the steam rooms.
- The spa would have been open in a month’s time rather than next Easter if BANES had accepted Mowlem’s suggestions.
- It could guarantee works would be finished by Christmas if its previous offer to take the project forward was accepted.

Hitting back at suggestions by BANES that the site was left in a poor state by Mowlem, the statement said: “The leaking floors aside, there are no other major problems with the building and the suggestion that it is in poor condition generally is no more than a red herring. Chipped paint and missing door knobs, the problems highlighted by BANES, can hardly be considered serious.”

BANES’s executive member for resources Malcolm Hanney said that Mowlem’s £26m offer to take forward the project would have put the final project bill at £50m.

He added that the offer was not for a fixed price, contained various exclusions and raised questions over the adequacy of the proposed building solution.
- Hanney is chasing up his Freedom of Information Act (FoI) request from former construction minister Nigel Griffiths into the briefing he was given from civil servants on the Bath Spa project before a debate in the House of Commons on 9 March. The FoI request was made to the Department of Trade & Industry on 15 April. No response has been received.