Decision details

For the Head of Programme Management to Approve the contract award for condition surveys of No. 7 Bruce Grove and the Palace Cathedral to Paul Travis Conservation for the sum of £9,975.00 excluding VAT (nine thousand nine hundred seventy-five pounds).

In April 2020, the Council was notified that its bid to Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zones programme for the Tottenham Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) had been successful. The Council was awarded a grant of £2.012 million, with the Council providing £2.598 million in match funding, to be spent by April 2024.

The Tottenham HAZ is focused on the Bruce Grove Conservation Area and Bruce Grove Town Centre. Its objectives are closely aligned with those of A Strategy for Tottenham High Road 2019–2029 (The Strategy), which aim to make Bruce Grove a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work and spend time. The Tottenham HAZ seeks to do this through a blend of heritage investments aimed at improving the condition and appearance of buildings along Tottenham High Road and Bruce Grove: repair and restoration, shopfront improvements, small-scale public realm investment, feasibility, technical work and planning guidance to inform any current and future activity required to manage heritage assets at risk.

A series of priority sites located within the Bruce Grove Heritage Corridor have been identified and agreed with Historic England, and No. 7 Bruce Grove and the Palace Cathedral are included among these sites: both are Grade II listed buildings on the Heritage at Risk Register, in urgent need of investment. Both are also identified among the key heritage projects within The Strategy.

The condition surveys for No. 7 Bruce Grove and the Palace Cathedral will inform future proposals for improvements to the buildings, as part of the wider Tottenham Heritage Action Zone regeneration scheme, aimed at making Bruce Grove a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work and spend time by improving the condition and appearance of buildings along Tottenham High Road and Bruce Grove.

The assessment will contribute towards the long-term improvement of the image and perception of the Bruce Grove Town Centre, generating increased footfall, and delivering a more attractive and vibrant town centre.

The pre-quotation estimated contract sum was over £10,000, and accordingly, procurement was carried out in line with CSO 8.03: in relation to a contract for services having an estimated value of £10,000 or more, but less than £160,000, three competitive quotations were sought. Two responses were received, that of Paul Travis Conservation scoring more highly against a Most Economically Advantageous Tender assessment.

No. 7 Bruce Grove and the Palace Cathedral are Grade II listed buildings on the Heritage at Risk Register. Given this context, the alternative – to do nothing – is not an option, as the specialist expertise of a conservation-accredited surveyor is required to address the buildings’ condition and severe decline. Doing nothing would also introduce a high level of time and cost risks to future improvement works to the building and to the building’s long-term condition and viability, due to a lack of sufficient baseline information.