Trowbridge Town Council had “no choice” but to cancel its controversial Doric Park artificial pitch project in January, a project management expert has concluded.

Following a damming review of the ill-fated project, Richard Grady, of Consult QRD, said costs had soared from £3.8 million in July 2020, to £4.8m by April 2022, and £6.6m in January 2024.

His 22-page report concluded that this rendered the project “unaffordable and represented appalling value for money”.

A working group set up in 2021 to oversee the project was established too late and the council had missed opportunities to reassess the project’s financial viability, he said.

“In my view, the key question is, therefore, not whether the project should have been cancelled, but why it took so long for this decision to be reached.”

Mr Grady concluded that the site purchased for £75,000 in 2013 next to Trowbridge Rugby Football Club’s Doric Park ground was not wide enough and unsuitable for the proposed uses.

He said the strip of land the council needed to access the site meant the council was “beholden” to Trowbridge RFC, which had offered it on a 99-year lease.

“This ultimately resulted in a situation where the council had to make significant investments to benefit the rugby club, contributing to an increase in project costs.”

One of the stakeholders interviewed, Matt Simpson of WT Group, who was involved with Doric Park from 2018 as a project manager, described the site as “the worst” he had ever been involved with due to its limitations.

The proposed relationship with the main user, Wiltshire College and University Centre, which would only commit to a three-year agreement, effectively made WCUC a ‘super-client’ for the facility, Mr Grady said.

The college also wanted a 577 square metre pavilion to accommodate a 135 sq metre clubroom and a small 106 sq metre gym with 21 stations as part of the proposed development.

Mr Grady said their inclusion was one of the “key drivers” behind the larger facility footprint and the overall project cost.

The delay in receiving a Public Works Loan Board decision on the council’s application for a government loan towards the project was also a “significant factor” in the costs increasing, he said.

Mr Grady also questioned the council’s income assumptions for the 50-year payback period for the loan, saying the college income made up 33 per cent of total income in Year 1 but by Year 4 it fell to 21 per cent using a zero-inflation assessment.

“The proposed relationship with the college has been demonstrated to offer no financial benefit, and there are clear errors in the forecast that should have been spotted earlier.”

Mr Grady said the project suffered from the lack of a clear business plan, describing the one the council had used as reading “more like a committee report”.

“There was also an apparent culture of distrust between some councillors and officers and amongst some of the councillors. Despite there appearing to be a broad consensus over the need for the project, there was not a collegiate approach to delivery.

“For want of a better expression, the project appears to have become a political football, with information being shared with the press and on social media which would perhaps have benefited from further discussion prior to publication.”

He concluded: “My assessment is that these issues stem from a failure by the council to put in place appropriate project management systems and processes.

“Should the council seek to progress large-scale capital projects in the future, it is strongly advised that appropriate systems and processes are put in place.”