Agenda item

(Asset Management and Economic Development Portfolio Holder) to consider the attached report (C-016-2018/19).

Decision:

(1)  That Essex Housing, part of Essex County Council, be appointed as the development consultants for the preparation and submission of an outline planning application for, and for the demolition of, Waltham Abbey Swimming Pool, Roundhills, Waltham Abbey, including the appointment of all consultants and the demolition contractor – and that Section 10 of the Council’s Procurement Rules be waived, in accordance with Section 2.8 of the Procurement Rules, accordingly;

(2)  That a request for a Supplementary Capital Estimate in the sum of £275,000 be made to the Council for the preparation of the Outline Planning Application and the demolition of the Swimming Pool; and

(3)  That the Asset Management and Economic Development Portfolio Holder agrees the proposed mix and other arrangements for the proposed development and authorises the submission of the Outline Planning Application on behalf of the Council.

The Asset Management and Economic Development Portfolio Holder introduced the report of the development of the Waltham Abbey Swimming Pool site, Roundhills, Waltham Abbey.

The existing Waltham Abbey Swimming Pool will close in November 2018, when the new Waltham Abbey Leisure Centre would open.  The future use of the site therefore needed to be considered.

In order to do this, it would be necessary to appoint a development consultant to appoint and co-ordinate the work of the various consultants and to work up an outline planning application for the Roundhills site, which had been allocated for residential accommodation within the Council’s Local Plan Submission Version.  In view of their successful and high quality approach to leading on the Hillhouse development in Waltham Abbey, Essex Housing had been invited to provide a Fee Submission to work up a proposal for residential accommodation on the site, submit an outline planning application, procure a demolition contractor and supervise the demolition of the Swimming Pool.

The total estimated cost of this work was £275,000.  Essex Housing’s proposed Development Fee was £12,000 (5.2%), which was considered to provide good value for money. 

There was currently no budget provision to undertake this work.  Therefore, in view of the need to commence the demolition works as quickly as possible, and to avoid delaying the outline planning application until next year, it was proposed that a request be made to the Council for a Supplementary Capital Estimate for £275,000, in order to commence the works and services as quickly as possible.

It was proposed that the Council enters into one contract with Essex Housing, for them to appoint the various consultants required, procure the contractor for the demolition works and supervise the demolition process.  Where appropriate, the consultants and contractor would be appointed through competitive processes.  Since the Total Contract Value would be in excess of £25,000, the appointment of Essex Housing would require a waiver from the Council’s Procurement Rules.

Decision:

(1)  That Essex Housing, part of Essex County Council, be appointed as the development consultants for the preparation and submission of an outline planning application for, and for the demolition of, Waltham Abbey Swimming Pool, Roundhills, Waltham Abbey, including the appointment of all consultants and the demolition contractor – and that Section 10 of the Council’s Procurement Rules be waived, in accordance with Section 2.8 of the Procurement Rules, accordingly;

(2)  That a request for a Supplementary Capital Estimate in the sum of £275,000 be made to the Council for the preparation of the Outline Planning Application and the demolition of the Swimming Pool; and

(3)  That the Asset Management and Economic Development Portfolio Holder agrees the proposed mix and other arrangements for the proposed development and authorises the submission of the Outline Planning Application on behalf of the Council.

Reasons for Proposed Decision:

Waltham Abbey Swimming Pool will close in November 2018 and the future use of the site needed to be determined.  The existing swimming pool needed to be demolished as soon as possible in order to make way for the new development and to reduce holding costs in the meantime

Other Options for Action:

The main alternative options appeared to be:

(1)        Undertake a competitive procurement process for the appointment of the development consultants – however, this had been discounted due to the time and cost involved in procuring a development consultant, including the formulation of a detailed specification and the need to commence the demolition works as quickly as possible.  In any event, Essex Housing’s development fee was very reasonable and only formed a small part of the overall costs.

(2)        Enter into a contract with Essex Housing to only act on behalf of the Council in procuring the various consultants and the demolition contractor, for the Council to enter into separate contracts with these third parties.  This had been discounted, since it would involve the Council in additional work and costs, which was not considered to be necessary compared to the proposed approach therefore less effective.