Fairbourne Flood Risk Management Research

Descriptions

Fairbourne Flood Risk Management: Prior Information Notice (PIN)Fairbourne is a low lying coastal community in Gwynedd at high risk from flooding as sea levels rise. The village of Fairbourne is within the West of Wales Shoreline Management Plan 2 (SMP) which recommends that the village is protected against flooding over the next 20 years. In the medium term (20-50 years) however it will not be sustainable to continue to defend and the plan for the area around Fairbourne is for managed realignment. The effect of implementing this SMP policy is that ultimately the village of Fairbourne will cease to exist in its current location.The Fairbourne Project has been established by Gwynedd Council to address community concerns and develop a plan to assist it adapt to the significant changes ahead. The Project is advised by a multi-agency Board including community representatives, Natural Resources Wales and Welsh Government. As well as specifically addressing the issues at Fairbourne the Project provides an opportunity to explore the impacts of SMP policies in a real situation and to research a range of measures that might help communities around Wales to adapt. It is intended that the lessons learnt through the Fairbourne project will be used to review Welsh Government policies on coastal adaptation and prepare guidance for coastal local authorities on the implementation of SMP policies. The Fairbourne project offers a unique opportunity to gain research information from a real case study and the information obtained could improve evidence for future policy decisions on climate change adaptation.Gwynedd Council’s work to date has focused on addressing community concerns with the production of a ‘frequently asked questions’ sheet, public meetings, engaging community representatives as well as setting up task and finish groups to consider what further information was needed. It is expected that the contractor would work closely with the Council when collecting data, by regularly attending the public meetings and engaging with the community.The Welsh Government envisages that the contractor would have regular workshops with the community and community engagement officers as the SMP policies and Council projects are implemented. This would then be used as a case study which highlights the various successes and challenges faced by the community, the officers, Council and Welsh Government. The contractor would be expected to hold regular feedback sessions with Welsh Government and the Council, providing a feedback loop for active learning and to provide support to the Council is areas of emerging community engagement theory and practice. The contract period is likely to be between 12 and 24 months with the research work tending to be spasmodic depending on the Project’s programme of research and community engagement. Indicative roles and responsibilities for the survey are set out below:Activity1.Developing set of research aims2.Development of data collection tools3.Joint working with Gwynedd CC4.Fieldwork5.Testing of emerging community engagement theory/practice (where applicable)6.Submission of data to Welsh Government7.Analysis and reporting on resultsResponsibility1.WG (with input from contractor)2.Contractor (with WG input)3.Contractor4.Contractor5.Contractor (with WG/Council input)6.Contractor (with WG input)7.Contractor (with WG input)Please use the attached expressions of interest document which seeks the input of research contractors in developing the research approach. It contains a short set of questions on the cost and potential approach to the work. Please send responses and any queries by 14:00 Friday 29th May. We may seek to clarify responses with you where necessary. Please note that our responses to queries submitted will be circulated to all contractors that express interest, if relevant, unless you indicate that your query includes commercially sensitive information that you would not wish to be disclosed. We are not currently able to respond to queries about procurement likelihood, timing or process as this detail is not yet known.Any information you provide at this stage will not be used in any further stage of evaluation as part of any resulting procurement process that may be undertaken for this requirement. It may however be used to inform the approach to survey design and methodology, for the survey contract.Participation in this scoping exercise is voluntary. Payment is not offered for your time or any associated costs. The Welsh Government also reserves the right to not advertise this project in the future.QuestionsApproach1.Please provide a short summary of how you would propose to approach the following:a.Researcher deploymentb.Fieldworkc.Support to Gwynedd CCd.Active learning approaches & feedbacke.Data collectionf.Reportingg.Any other predicted issues or concernsCost2.Approximately how much would you expect your proposed approach would cost if started in mid-2015? It would be necessary to conduct any fieldwork in Welsh or English at the respondent’s request.3.Please also provide a list of any assumptions made (over and above the details we have set out in this document) when providing these costs.NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at http://www.sell2wales.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=27209.