A BARRHEAD family centre project that was delayed for almost a year by bats has been hit by further setbacks.

Contaminated earth found at the site of the former Auchenback Primary School on Auburn Drive has pushed the price of the build over the £5 million mark.

Construction of the new Arthurlie Family Centre and early years centre is not due to begin until October 2017.

The delay has also cost East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) an additional £398,000 – on top of the £4.88 million already budgeted.

The project was originally delayed when it was found that bats were living in the roof of the former school and would have to leave before demolition could progress.

A report due to go before ERC’s Cabinet on Thursday, January 26, reveals how to prevent further delays, emergency approval for the additional funds had to be sought from just two of the right councillors on the cabinet.

The report will be delivered by ERC’s director of environment Iain Maclean and written by Alan Hook, ERC’s principal officer.

It says: “Following the departure in March 2016 of the last of the bats occupying the former Auchenback Primary School, the old school buildings were demolished. Once the demolition material was removed from the site, a full site investigation, which included soil analysis took place in April 2016.

“Project civil engineers advised the design team that contaminants had been discovered in the soil analysis and that the levels indicated that the contaminated material would need to be removed from the site.”

ERC has said that it envisions the hub playing a key role in early intervention amongst Barrhead’s youth, as well as acting as a base of operations for the Health and Social Care Partnership, and a new home for tots from Arthurlie Family Centre which is set to relocate from its current premises on the St Mark’s Primary School campus.

The threat of further delays forced officers to seek emergency approval from just two of the councillors that make up ERC’s cabinet.

The report continues: “As a consequence of the delay, coupled to the fact that the additional expenditure is the lowest available cost solution to delivering the early learning and childcare facility, the approval of councillors Green and Lafferty were sought and obtained, allowing council officers to approve the contract.”

The project is expected to provide 170 places in the nursery and a shared community facility including a hall, meeting rooms and conference rooms.