The Landing delayed

Construction works have been suspended at The Landing resort development opposite Port Hedland airport, with stage one now not expected to be completed until July 2013.

Initial estimates from project manager Centauri had The Village component of the development – a low-rise building consisting of 282 rooms – taking guests by December, but a raft of delays, including delivery of pre-fabricated hotel room modules, has played havoc with the construction schedule.

As a result, stage one’s second component – the 4-star, 235-room north tower – has also suffered setbacks.

Centauri managing director Robin Cornish last week defended the $175 million project, owned by Port Village Accommodation (PVA) Pty Ltd, saying unforeseen roadblocks were hampering progress.

He said three shipments for The Village, delivering a total of 141 modules, from Thailand-based C&T Modular had been delayed by as much as 43 days due to congestion at Port Hedland port’s multi-user dock. At the time of going to print, the third shipment still had not arrived.

This was compounded with confusion and delays relating to WA’s new Building Act in the first half of the year, Mr Cornish said.

He said all site preparation works had effectively been completed but with Christmas looming and the threat of an upcoming cyclone season, project managers had adopted a cautious approach.

“With respect to the construction program, we are still evaluating … but our working assumption is that we won’t commence either element (low and high rise) until the New Year,” he said.

“This is extremely frustrating for the builders who, at our request, have geared up to implement in an accelerated manner but we are now suspending the program pending our risk review.

“While all costs associated with the suspension are PVA’s, it has caused tension with the builders who have other projects they need to commit to, particularly in that we haven't finalised our assessment and thus committed to restart dates.”

Mr Cornish confirmed payment for C&T Modular’s third shipment had not been made as of last week because the modules were yet to be delivered.

He said the lengthy delays at anchorage had cost PVA more than $1 million and that the company had only factored in a five-day wait time.

A Port Hedland Port Authority spokesman said all port users were notified in advance of delays between May and September due to mandatory environmental upgrades at the multi-user dock.

Stage two of The Landing development, comprising the 121-room south tower and six-storey commercial centre, is now not expected to be completed until mid-2014.