Katikati's $4.5 million double-storied library and service centre building and single-storey community hub has been approved by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

District councillors voted to award the construction contract to Watts and Hughes for the amount of $3.8 million.

The total budget for the project is $4.5 million and includes construction costs, fees and contingencies.

The total estimated cost of the project exceeds $4.5m and this week's explored elements of the project that can be delayed or eliminated to stay within the cost, which is a condition the

Approving construction and confirming the project funding costs at $4.5 million are significant steps in a project that has been well researched and planned over many years, says Mayor Garry Webber.

Decisions on any changes to elements needed to achieve this will take place during construction.

'It's very pleasing that we've now got to the stage where we are within reach of building much needed facilities in Katikati that will add real value to the community for years to come and become part of the fabric of what makes this area a great place to live,'' says Garry.

The Katikati Library has been planned for in Council's Long Term Plan (LTP) since 2012 and the project was consulted on with the community through the Council's 2015 LTP, and Annual Plan processes.

A property at 21 Main Street was purchased in March 2011, and identified within the Katikati Town Centre Plan as a suitable location for a Library and Service Centre.

In the course of consultation with the community and the Katikati Community Board, the concept of a community hub as part of the area office/library was advocated and agreed by Council in March 2016. External funding of $350,000 for the hub was obtained through a Lotteries grant.

In March/April 2017, Council went through a tender process, which was won by Watts & Hughes, on the understanding that they would be prepared to work through a value engineering process to ‘de-risk' the

project from their perspective while at the same time looking into decreasing the reliance on contingencies, which were making the project unaffordable within the scope of the budget.