West Rhyl Green Space Project

Descriptions

IntroductionDenbighshire County Council and its project partners (Welsh Government and Clwyd Alyn Housing Association) is seeking to appoint a landscape architect practice to design and manage the construction of a new green space in West Rhyl.This Invitation to Tender (“ITT”) has been issued by the Authority in connection with a competitive procurement for the provision of the services identified under a two stage tender procedure.This ITT sets out the information which is required by the Authority in order to assess the suitability of Potential Providers in terms of their technical knowledge and experience, capability/capacity, organisational and financial standing to meet the requirement as advertised in the Contract Notice dated 25th July 2013.The assessment of the answers to the questions will be done in two stages.- Stage 1 will be the Qualification stage where the Authority will be seeking evidence of the Potential Provider’s suitability to perform the services in terms of economic and financial standing, technical and professional ability.- Stage 2 will be the Award Stage where the Authority will be assessing the Potential Provider’s ability to provide the services required under any agreement. This will be an evaluation of both price and quality of the service to be provided. Qualification and Award criteria will be a combination of both financial and non-financial factors and will be evaluated in accordance with criteria laid down in the attachment titled Evaluation Methodology.No information contained in this ITT or in any communication made between Denbighshire County Council (the “Authority”) and any Potential Provider in connection with this ITT, shall be relied upon as constituting a contract, agreement or representation that any contract shall be offered in accordance with this ITT. The Authority reserves the right, subject to the appropriate procurement regulations, to change without notice the basis of, or the procedures for, the competitive tendering process or to terminate the process at any time. Under no circumstances shall the Authority incur any liability in respect of this ITT or any supporting documentation.Direct or indirect canvassing of any Councillor, public sector employee or agent by any potential bidder concerning this requirement, or any attempt to procure information from any Councillor, public sector employee or agent concerning this ITT may result in the disqualification of the Potential Provider from consideration for this requirement.The Authority will not reimburse any costs incurred by Potential Providers in connection with preparation and submission of their responses to this ITT.Purpose of this briefThe purpose of this brief is to provide the necessary information to appoint and guide the commission of a landscape architect practice team to design and subsequently supervise the implementation of a new green space in West Rhyl and surrounding public realm.Denbighshire County Council is currently undertaking the WRHIP Green Space project to improve the designated areas identified within West Rhyl, falling under the scope of this project.The anticipated ceiling budget for construction stages is GBP2,000,000.Funding has been secured by DCC for the Design, communication and completion up to the planning stage of the project - Phases 1 & 2.Because of criteria around funding there is potential cut off at stage two and a cap of GBP100,000 for the initial completion of stages one and two.There is a further phase of the project which will be to undertake the project management of the actual construction stage when this commences in 2014.DCC are seeking to appoint a suitably capable and qualified organisation to undertake all phases of the project noting that initially only phases 1 and 2 will be awarded with phases 3 and 4 being awarded subject to funding being made available.Providers should be aware that there is no guarantee the Phase 3 & Phase 4 element of the project (project management phase) will take place. This is subject to satisfactory delivery of Stage 1 & 2, confirmation of funding, WRHIP Board approval and DCC Cabinet approvalBackgroundThe Rhyl West ward has featured as the most deprived ward in Wales in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation since 1990. The level of worklessness in the area is comparatively high, levels of crime and anti-social behaviour, ill health and inequality are well above local averages, and the area suffers from a poor reputation that undoubtedly impacts on the economic and social potential of the town as a whole. Many of the problems stem from the poor quality rented accommodation that predominates in the ward, a legacy of a mass tourism industry that is now 35 years past its heyday. A great number of former boarding and guest houses have been converted by private landlords into flats and bedsits, many of which barely meet the minimum of housing standards and can significantly impact on health and by association employment and inequalities. The resulting housing in multiple occupation (HMOs) only attracts those in society that have little or no other choice and this form of tenure is most common in the streets immediately to the west of the town centre.The Welsh Government along with its primary partners, Denbighshire County Council and Clwyd Alyn Housing Association aim to tackle housing deprivation in a key area of West Rhyl with the aim of creating a momentum for change. Since the designation of the North Wales Coast Regeneration Area by the Welsh Government in October 2008, work has begun improve housing conditions and following the development of the West Rhyl Masterplan, areas that require intervention by the public sector have been identified.The resulting West Rhyl Housing Improvement Project aims to redevelop the housing offer in one of these intervention areas by creating a range of new housing types and housing tenures that will in time attract a more balanced population. Following consultation while developing the masterplan, it became clear that West Rhyl residents were also eager to see some green space introduced into the area. The project proposals therefore also include plans to demolish a street block centred on Gronant Street and a part of Aquarium Street to provide space for a new green space.