TENDER FOR GREEN SEA (BEACH IMPROVEMENT) SOUTH & SOUTH WEST WALES

Descriptions

The Green Sea (Beach Improvement) Programme forms part of Visit Wales’ Environment for Growth (E4G) Coastal Tourism Project which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the West Wales and the Valleys Convergence programme 2007-13. The Coastal Tourism project will develop on-shore and off-shore facilities to maximise economic benefits and impacts from the coastline of Wales and is designed to enhance the quality of the visitor experiences around the Welsh coast through:•Improving coastal recreation infrastructure •Developing the natural environment through improved access and enjoyment opportunities on the coast through the Green Sea Improvement Programme•Enhancing the facilities and overall quality of the Wales’ coastal offer;•Improved & new coastal infrastructure – Enhancing the standard and availability of coastal infrastructure to provide increased opportunities for people to participate in coastal recreational activities and improving opportunities for accessibility •Interpretation and Sense of Place - supported by an improvement in the provision of information and interpretation;The objective of The Green Sea (Beach Improvement) element is to ensure the quality of beaches around the coast of the Convergence area of Wales is maintained and improved in order to meet growing visitor expectations and to assist in the attainment of outputs, results and impact targets. The achievement targets for the whole Coastal Tourism project are:OutputsInitiatives developing the natural, urban and/ or historic environment 7Managed access to countryside or coast 8kmEnterprises Assisted15ResultsVisits 250,000Gross jobs created 240Impacts•Increasing the overall value of the local tourism sector;•Enhancing the profile of Wales as a destination and coastal activity area;•Improving social and economic vibrancy of coastal communities;•Economic growth and the creation of employment.Tenderers will be expected to demonstrate in their proposals how investment in their developments will help to contribute towards these targets. All beaches that are awarded funding will be subject to monitoring and evaluation to assess the economic and environmental impact of the investment using the Environment for Growth methodology. More information is available at www.e4g.org.uk. Green Sea delivery in south and south west Wales is being managed by Pembrokeshire County Council on behalf of Visit Wales. Conwy County Borough Council is carrying out a similar role in north Wales, also on behalf of Visit Wales. General requirements:The Green Sea programme is designed to enhance the quality of the visitor experiences at eligible Welsh beaches through effective beach management addressing visitor management and conservation issues, and the provision/improvement of appropriate infrastructure or facilities. The programme will make a financial contribution to successful tenderers towards investment in improvements to the coastal environment such as access, parking, facilities, recycling, toilets, amenities, information and interpretation. Potential suppliers will need to demonstrate how they will create a tourism infrastructure that will add value beyond the life of the project and help ensure repeat visitors. Completed developments will be complemented by Visit Wales marketing which will help sustain jobs and visitor numbers during the current economic downturn (over the short to medium term).Proposals will be assessed using the principles of WEFO’s general project selection criteria. In addition, the selection process will address more specific criteria including: ?The extent to which proposals meet the requirements of the Green Sea Beach Improvement Programme ?Evidence of partnership and cross-sector working in line with “Making the Connections”;?Evidence of collaborative development & promotion of beaches and engagement with Visit Wales marketing department; ?Evidence of engagement with Regional Tourism Partnerships, the private sector & community interests;?The extent to which proposals will help address problems of seasonality and help stimulate demand in off peak periods.?Robust systems in place for measuring visitor numbersFurthermore, tenderers will need to demonstrate how their projects relate to the four objectives in the Welsh Assembly Government’s Sustainable Tourism Framework:?Promoting local prosperity?Supporting community well being and involvement?Minimising tourism’s environmental impact?Protecting and giving value to natural heritage and cultureAdditional requirements:All interested parties will need to be registered as legal entities in order to contract with Pembrokeshire County Council.Green Sea will only invest in beaches that are potential or existing Blue Flag Award Beaches, or potential or existing Green Coast Award Beaches with the aim of securing the appropriate award. There will be a requirement that non EC bathing waters will need to undertake sampling during the 3 years of the Green Sea programme to enable them to seek Green Coast Awards. Any associated costs should be borne by the tendering organisation. Any suppliers proposing to tender in respect of beaches that have not had a recent beach award, such beaches will need to be inspected by Keep Wales Tidy so they may advise on the scope of works necessary to achieve award status prior to the submission of the tender. Suppliers are advised that Keep Wales Tidy will charge for all inspections carried out and that these costs are not reclaimable either in whole or part from any subsequent award from Green Sea, nor from Pembrokeshire County Council, Conwy County Borough Council, Visit Wales or Keep Wales Tidy. Suppliers wishing to arrange an inspection should contact Mr Wynne Williams, National Blue Flag Co-ordinator, Keep Wales Tidy, Harbour House, Slate Quay, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 2PB. E-mail wynne.williams@keepwalestidy.org.This requirement was previously advertised. Tenderers who are yet to arrange KWT assessment should note that in the event that KWT are unable to carry an assessment before the closing date for tenders no responsibility or liability will be accepted by Pembrokeshire County Council, Conwy County Borough Council, Keep Wales Tidy or Visit Wales.Any Local Authority suppliers wishing to include as a part of their tender access improvements to Rights of Way and intending to use funding (E.g. From the Wales Coastal Access Improvement Programme to link the coast with locations within a two kilometre wide ‘coastal zone’ by means of linear (‘links’) or circular (‘loops’) routes that also link to the Wales Coast Path) granted by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department of Environment, Sustainability and Housing via the Countryside Council for Wales towards the cost of these works should note the following. Each such Local Authority will be required to provide evidence with their tender that they have consulted CCW and/or WAG DESH on the proposed works and that they have received approval from the funding bodies that the proposed projects meet their requirements for the use of these funds.FundingERDF funding through Green Sea will be available at a maximum intervention rate of 42.2% towards eligible project costs. There is £422,000 ERDF available to support projects throughout the South & South West Wales region. When combined the minimum eligible expenditure of successful projects must be at least £1 million. Up to a further £200,556 ERDF may also be available to support additional sufficiently high scoring projects with a total minimum eligible expenditure of £475,252.Most costs are expected to be capital in nature though some revenue expenditure may be included if appropriately justified (up to a maximum of 10% of the total costs). Welsh Rules on the Eligibility of Expenditure will apply: http://wefo.wales.gov.uk/developing/guidance/welshnationalrules/?lang=enTenderers will be expected to provide or secure appropriate sources of match funding towards activity. Match funding does not have to be formally in place by the time organisations submit their tenders, but there should be a strong indication of where the match funding is coming from. It will be a condition of the contract for each proposal that the match funding is in place. Selection criteria will include funding contribution and certainty. Sites that have benefited from European funding in the past can be included so long as the Green Sea proposal adds value to the previously funded project and is not a top up or continuation funding. As this is a procurement contract involving match funding it should be noted that, although any type of organisation registered as a legal entity may bid, the European Structural Funds are making a contribution towards the total eligible costs of delivering an activity. ‘Profit’ is by definition an amount over and above the actual cost of the delivery and is therefore not eligible. The Coastal Tourism Project via the Green Sea initiative aims to deliver sustainable activities. Financial support will be available until no later than June 2013. Deliverers will need to demonstrate that their proposal would be sustainable and would continue after the Convergence Funding stops.Monitoring and evaluationCore monitoring information will need to be provided to the Lead Authority on a consistent basis in line with that collected across the Coastal Tourism Project and the other strategic projects in Wales, funded under the EU Convergence theme of Environment for Growth (E4G). Pembrokeshire County Council will provide deliverers with a standard set of tools to enable them to provide monitoring information to satisfy the reporting requirements of Visit Wales, E4G and WEFO