Agenda item

[Report of the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning.  To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for House Building, Place Making and Development]

This report seeks Cabinet Approval for the extension of the appointment of a Lead Designer to take forward the Ashley Road Depot Project to deliver c. 298 new homes.

The Cabinet Member for House Building, Place Making and Development introduced the report which sought approval for the extension of the appointment of a Lead Designer to take forward the Ashley Road Depot Project to deliver c. 298 new homes.

In response to questions from Councillor Palmer, the Cabinet Member and the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning advised that all stakeholders would be consulted on their views for the scheme, and that these views would be taken into consideration for the final proposals.

Further to considering exempt information at item 22,

RESOLVED

1.         To approve the extension of appointment of a Lead Designer for RIBA Stage 3 at a cost of £ 730,373.

2.         To delegate to the Director of Housing, Planning and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for House-Building, Place-Making and Development, to agree any further extension of the appointment of the Lead Designer for RIBA Stage 4 up to a cost of £ 637,684.

Reasons for decisions

Based upon the tender returns, officers have approved the first stage of design and the appointment of a cost consultant. However, to achieve planning we will need to instruct works and costs that require Cabinet approval. Without Cabinet approval to appoint RIBA Work Stage 3 we cannot develop the scheme design to submission for Planning Permission.

The site will be empty from January 2022 and there is a strong desire to achieve a start on site as soon as possible following that date. Given the potential number of homes that can be built, this scheme is a great opportunity for the Council to demonstrate its ability to deliver genuinely affordable homes. We have also been allocated £8,600,000 grant funding by the GLA, and bid for a further £6,300,000, which we expect to be allocated. The drawing down of grant will require the Council to achieve a material start on site no later than March 2023.

In addition, we are seeking Delegated Authority to appoint further design work to maintain progress, ensure design quality and de-risk the works tender to assist with securing a more competitive build price. For example, we may wish to design some elements to a greater level than is required for planning to ensure that the tender package protects the design quality and prevents crude value engineering by the contractor. Plus, it may help to accelerate the delivery of the new homes, since the work can be carried out during the planning decision period. While the scheme is in its initial design stages, we cannot be certain of the best approach to these details, and therefore Delegated Authority is sought to allow a flexible approach.

Alternative options considered.

This supplier of lead designer services was procured via a competitive tender through the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), which is the recommended route for a contract of this value. An alternative option would have been to appoint directly, but this option was rejected due to the value of the estimated contract. Given the scale of costs, procuring competitively gave us an opportunity to demonstrate best value and procure from a wide selection of potential suppliers.

The procurement combined a number of services including Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Engineering and Planning Consultancy. These services could have been separated and tendered separately. However, this would have posed significant risks of delay and a lack of clear accountability. By combining these services within one appointment we can mitigate these risks and are able to appoint a team with a track record of working together who can start immediately.