Minutes:
The Strategic Lead for Economic Development and Neighbourhoods introduced the report which sought approval for the procurement of a development partner to assist the Council in the implementation of Gainsborough’s Regeneration Delivery Plan.
Initially, this would include the development of the Council assets in Gainsborough town centre and potentially deliver the Council’s wider housing plans for Gainsborough, namely the Housing Zone agenda with the Homes and Communities Agency and assist in the delivery of the Urban Extensions.
The procurement process was being conducted in accordance with the competitive dialogue procedure for complex projects (pursuant to Regulation 30 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) which allowed development and financial solutions to be fully considered and refined with a shortlist of pre-qualified developers. A key benefit of this procedure was the ability to commence the dialogue with a long list of sites/projects and test the cohesiveness and viability of “the preferred solution”.
The procurement of a development partner was integral to the delivery of the Council’s corporate regeneration and commercial agendas (approved by the Council in March 2016). Specifically, it would ensure that the Council's objectives to achieve economic and housing growth were realised, maximising the use of the Council’s asset base and enabling funds to create an appropriate financial return to the Council.
Stage one, the formal market testing of the procurement scope of the project had been completed and a Memorandum of Information had been prepared to respond to the feedback to further improve the attractiveness of the opportunity to the market.
The next stage of the project is to publish an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) notice and invite developers to submit a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ). The PQQ would be evaluated in accordance with the pre-disclosed evaluation criteria and this would predominantly focus on financial standing and proven relevant experience of delivering similar complex development projects.
Twelve companies had attended developer meetings and there was interest from some leading organisations, who understood the marginality of Gainsborough, and feedback had been positive. The Memorandum of Information (MOI) was attached as Appendix 2 of the report and outlined in further detail the procurement scope and objectives of the project.
It was questioned why the Devolution agenda had caused the stalling of the Starter Homes funding bid, however it was clarified that this was more about Brexit than Devolution and that the Strategic Lead for Economic Development and Neighbourhoods was lobbying hard for the area and was in discussion with the Housing and Communities Agency.
Members asked why the focus was so heavily directed towards housing and service provision such as leisure and retail when work and employment were the wealth creators. Dormitory settlements were not wanted, jobs and industry were needed. The Strategic Lead for Economic Development and Neighbourhoods stated that the housing target was from the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and that the only currently available government funding was for housing. The target was a current reflection of the economic growth for Lincolnshire.
The Committee thanked the Strategic Lead for Economic Development and Neighbourhoods for her work on the project and her efforts to get brownfield land developed in Gainsborough, and the recommendations were moved and seconded en bloc.
On being voted upon it was RESOLVED that:
a) the OJEU notice and Memorandum of Information (MOI) that set out the scope of the procurement for the Development Partner in Appendix 1 and 2 of the report be approved; and it be noted how the OJEU Notice and MOI have been augmented to respond to the market feedback received from the market following the publication of a Prior Information Notice;
b) the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and related evaluation criteria in Appendix 3 of the report be approved, to enable a minimum shortlist of three bidders to be selected to work up outline solutions;
c) agreement for the project in line with the process and timeframe agreed on 14 July, be approved to progress to the next key committee milestones;
- prior approval of the Invitation to Submit Outline Proposals ("ISOP") and Invitation to Submit Detailed Solutions ("ISDS") documents to be released to the shortlisted bidders; and - prior to selection of the preferred bidder; as detailed in section 4 of the report.