Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal.]

This report considers the appointment of a design team to deliver a range of projects on the Broadwater Farm estate, including the development of detailed designs for new homes.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal introduced this report which considered the appointment of a design team to deliver a range of projects on the Broadwater Farm estate, including the development of detailed designs for new homes.

The Cabinet Member noted that when Cabinet previously took the difficult decision to rehouse residents on the Broadwater Farm estate from Tang mere and Northolt blocks following safety concerns, it also committed to re-providing all homes lost through demolition with new Council homes at Council rents and the right of return. This report followed detailed work by officers to develop a comprehensive brief to appoint designers to support us in this ambition. Through this work the Council would not only develop designs for high quality new homes on the estate but would bring forward proposals to enhance the public realm and maximise the value of existing community assets, such as the community and health centres.

The Cabinet informed that residents and the Council’s partners would play a key role in this work taking forward an iterative design process, which would require their input from the start and through each design stage to achieve the right outcomes. This would ensure that the Council’s plans have resident support which it has committed to put to the test through a resident ballot once plans are ready.

The Cabinet Member closed by extending thanks to members of the Broadwater Farm Residents’ Association who provided resident input to officers when evaluating the tender submissions, despite having reservations prior.

In response to questions from Councillor Dennison, the following information was provided:

• The Cabinet Member confirmed the consultants had experience in handling projects of this scale and type.
• The Cabinet Member confirmed residents would play an ongoing role in the design process moving forward. Officers noted the architects selected had a proven track record of developing estates around the country and co-designing with residents.
• A like for like had been embedded in the contract to ensure there was the same minimum number of social housing provided at Tangmere and Northolt as before.

Further to considering exempt information at item 22,

RESOLVED

1. To approve the award of the contract for the Broadwater Farm Design Architects - Urban Design Framework to Bidder A for the maximum sum of £1,396,357.60, in accordance with the provisions of the Council’s Contract Standing Order (CSO) 7.01 (B));
2. To authorise the issue of a Letter of Intent for an amount not to exceed 10% of the value of the contract;
3. To approve a contingency allowance in the amount set out in paragraph 2.1 of the exempt report delegates power to the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning to approve any necessary variations to the contract to accommodate unavoidable cost increases within the contingency allowance.

Reasons for decision

The appointment of the preferred bidder will enable the Council to progress with the delivery of new replacement homes for Tangmere and Northolt sites in accordance with Cabinet commitments made in November 2018.

Alongside the design of new homes, this decision will bring forward the development of a new urban design framework for the estate. The purpose of this framework is to ensure that the design team considers the estate and surrounding areas a whole when developing designs. This means that:

New housing developments take account of the existing estate and estate infrastructure (such as existing roads and pedestrian footpaths etc).

Ground floor usage on the estate can be explored in more detail, with the possibility (subject to consultation) of infilling some areas to provide community amenity, additional homes, or commercial space.

A strategy for public realm enhancements on the estate can be brought forward to enhance the existing green spaces and connections to the park

Finally, the appointment will allow the Council to develop design briefs for three opportunity sites on the periphery of the estate. This aligns to the Council’s commitment to develop a significant pipeline of new Council housing developments in this administration and beyond.

Alternative options considered

Doing nothing was not considered acceptable as the Council has made a commitment to build new homes on the estate.

Consideration was given to procuring architects for the detailed design of the Tangmere and Northolt blocks only and then procure the remaining work separately. However, this approach would miss the opportunity to consider the wider benefits of the new build, could fetter future opportunities and options and, in the longer term, could cost more in both time and money. As an example, when the wider Public Realm Strategy is considered, this could result in the replacement homes being on a different footprint to the existing blocks to maximise the impact of any improvements. For these reasons, a single procurement exercise was undertaken