Agenda and minutes

Members may make any declarations at this point but may also make them at any time during the course of the meeting.

Councillor David Cotton, as a Visiting Member,sought advice regarding the position of serving Planning Committee Members in relation to agenda item 4 (Development Partner).

In responding the Monitoring Officer advised that pre-determination rules had become more liberal in recent years, and as long as Members kept an open mind and stated such when considering any future planning applications which may arise as a result, their position was sound. It was suggested that at any future Planning Committee, affected Members should state that they had debated the matter at the Policy Committee, but still had an open mind and would listen to the debate and make their decision based on this.

No declarations of interest were made.

To resolve that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVEDthatunderSection100(A)(4) ofthe LocalGovernmentAct1972, thepublic and press beexcluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule12A of theAct.

West Lindsey District Council had committed to an ambitious programme of housing growth and town centre regeneration in Gainsborough which would build on the success of previous development and enable the town to fulfil its potential as an attractive and thriving sub-regional centre. Securing a strategic development partner was integral to the success of this programme and the delivery of the vision for Gainsborough and the District.

In October 2016, Members had approved the Contract Notice (OJEU Notice) and the Memorandum of Information that set out the scope of the procurement for the Development Partner.

Members had also approved the Selection Questionnaire (“SQ”) and related evaluation criteria to enable the Council to shortlist bidders for the next stage of the procurement process, referred to the Outline Solutions stage.

Following these approvals, on 14 November 2016, the Contract Notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (“OJEU”) inviting expressions of interest from organisations wishing to enter into a long term Joint Venture with the Council to deliver a phased programme of commercial and housing development in Gainsborough.

The Council was conducting the procurement in accordance with the Competitive Dialogue procedures pursuant to Regulation 30 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Following the receipt of expressions of interest from a number of developers, Members were asked to acknowledge the proposed shortlist of candidates to be taken forward to the “Invite to Submit Outline Proposals (ISOP) stage of the process.  Members were also asked to approve the ISOP document which had been appended to the report.

In order to aide Members understanding of the process to date, the process going forward and the purpose of the ISOP document, the Director of Economic & Commercial Growth and the Team Manager for Projects and Growth made a presentation to Members.

During the presentation, Members were provided with information relating to the following: -

·         A reminder of the vision and aspirations of West Lindsey District Council, in terms of the District’s regeneration and the challenges this posed and thus for the need to attract a Development Partner;

·         Details of the five stages of the Competitive Dialogue Procurement Process that would be undertaken prior to any Notice of Award, noting that Committee approval would be sought at each and every stage;

·         The next stage of the process, the ISOP, and its purpose, which was to focus the shortlisted developers on producing proposals for Gainsborough and the wider District that could be evaluated by the Council in accordance with the pre-disclosed evaluation criteria.  Three phases of development had been identified to assist bidders in producing a “Partnership Business Plan”.  These were shared with Members.  It was noted that the phasing and sites had been provided to assist Participants in their bid submission but not to constrain their proposals.  The scope of the contract notice allowed for flexibility, for example if a development partner had an idea for development which might enhance the regeneration outcomes for the town centre but that wasn’t explicitly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.