TAXPAYERS in Keighley face a hefty bill to fix a failing central heating system in Keighley Town Council's Civic Centre.

The council has been quoted figures ranging from under £20,000 to more than £84,000.

The question of how much should be spent on repairing or replacing the ageing central heating occupied much of the latest full meeting of the town council last Thursday. (Jan 26)

At one point during a lengthy, sometimes fraught debate, Councillor John Kirby said: "We wouldn't be in this situation if the town council had listened five years ago when it was told the boiler was on the way out. Why wasn't money put aside for this?"

Earlier, the meeting was informed that one of the North Street building's two boilers has been shut down and condemned. Heating is currently being supplied by the second boiler, which is "limping along".

The deputy clerk explained that local firm Watsons Building Services has provided quotations for three different options to resolve the problem.

The cheapest would comprise replacing the failed boiler and broken pumps, at a cost of £19,387.

An intermediate option would involve replacing the whole boiler plant and controls using a simplified design, costing £74,013.

The most expensive comprises a "like for like" replacement of what already exists, costing £84,187.

Members of the council said they were concerned by the costs involved and asked for additional quotations to be sought.

Civic Centre committee chairman Cllr Amjad Zaman said: "The boiler is 16 years old and it's very hard to get replacement parts. Doing nothing is not an option.

"I know we're considering whether or not we keep the building, but we can't sell a building that doesn't have central heating. No one would want it."

Cllr Gary Pedley urged the council to investigate whether the current heating system really needs such a large and expensive replacement.

Councillor Kaneez Akthar successfully proposed that the council carry out essential works to make sure the heating system is safe and functioning for the immediate future.

The Civic Centre Committee will seek additional quotations for a more long-term solution, and an independent site assessment will be carried out to see whether the building can be heated using a much cheaper option.

The civic centre opened as a police and forensic science museum in 2012. But it was later revealed to be losing money, and in June 2016 the town council confirmed it was then having to spend about £180,000 a year on maintaining the civic centre.

It has since revealed the results of a public consultation on what should be done with the property.

Of those who responded, 27 per cent favoured the council relocating its offices and selling the Civic Centre, 26 per cent were in favour of the council engaging with social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations to manage elements of the building and 16 per cent supported the idea of the council helping social enterprises or private sector organisations take on some functions in the Civic Centre and trading from within the property.

Fourteen per cent favoured the town council engaging with public and private sector organisations in terms of them relocating to the centre, while eight per cent favoured none of the above options.

The council has not yet announced a decision on the centre's future.

*In a detailed statement submitted after the town council's meeting last Thursday, the council's own clerk said councillors should not have discussed Watsons Building Services quotes in public.

Safia Kauser said: "The quotes submitted were marked confidential for the member’s attention at the meeting. The agenda item clearly advised the council that the particular item relating to discussions to contracts should be held in a private session excluding the members of the press and public (this was due to commercial confidentiality).

"Although the chairman and the council were advised that they should apply the exclusion at that point, they voted to go against the town clerk's advice and resolved to hold the agenda item in the public forum.

"On behalf of the council, I would like to express my apologies to Watsons Building Services for the elected members failing to deal with the quotes on a commercial confidential basis.

"I would like to place on record that the council has a competitive tendering process that is outlined in the Council’s Financial Regulations.

"Any contract value above £25,000 must be advertised on the Contracts Finder website. On this occasion, the council did not use this process and applied the exemption from the Financial Regulations, to ensure that the work is carried out immediately due to the nature of the emergency works, in which case only one quotation was obtained.

"Watsons Building Services were selected, as they had previously carried out works on the boiler system during the refurbishment of the former police station in 2011.

"The council is working within its framework to alleviate the situation and to be fair to all interested parties. Members will be reminded of the procedures and regulations that should be followed and the importance of competitive tendering."