To approve the appointment of a developer to work in partnership with the council in

delivering the development and regeneration programme.

THAT:

(a)                the highest scoring tender, Keepmoat, be appointed as the preferred bidder to work in partnership to deliver the council’s development and regeneration programme;

(b)          the director for economy, communities and corporate having consulted with the chief financial officer and cabinet member contracts and assets, and having received satisfactory confirmation of tender commitments, be authorised to complete contractual arrangements with Keepmoat for a period of 10 years;

(c)          in the event that satisfactory confirmation of tender commitments is not received from the preferred bidder, the director for economy, communities and corporate, following consultation with the chief financial officer and cabinet member for contracts and assets and having received satisfactory confirmation of tender commitments, be authorised to enter into the contract for the development and regeneration programme with the second highest bidder (‘the reserve bidder’);

(d)          following completion of contractual arrangements options appraisal and business cases for development of the former Bromyard depot and the Hereford station approach sites be brought forward for consideration as the first phase sites; and

(e)          thanks are extended to all bidders for the courteous, prompt and productive way in which they have all participated in the procurement.

In June 2016 cabinet decided that the council should carry out a procurement to

identify a developer partner. The aim was to maximise the benefit that the council

could achieve from the land that it owns with development potential. This

procurement process has been successfully completed and the recommendation of

this report implement the results of this competitive process.

The arrangements that have been agreed with the bidders represent the most

effective mechanism by which to:

Generate the greatest potential to raise capital and revenue receipts from the

council’s land holdings, whilst controlling the nature, speed and character of

developments;

Contribute to the delivery of the target of 800 homes for Hereford city centre

and to the housing targets set out within the core strategy;

Create a commissioning option that supports the emerging objectives of

programmes including the economic masterplan, one Herefordshire and one

public estate;

Underpin the regeneration of the county via a long term pipeline of works

Target the use of local labour and local supply chain, creating jobs, apprenticeships, training and education initiatives and provide support for

local SMEs for third sector groups and the community;

Improve skills and educational attainment and enable the development of new

economic activity to address the problem of low wages in the county;

Facilitate collaborative working between partners conducting developments

within the county.

The council could determine not to appoint a development partner at this stage. This

is not recommended because alternative options to procuring a development partner

were explored in the report to cabinet in June 2016, and the procurement process

has confirmed suitable partners are available and offer an appropriate delivery

vehicle to achieve the council’s ambitions.

Selecting an alternative partner is not recommended as doing so could result in a

challenge to the procurement process. This would delay or prevent contract award,

result in significant costs to the council and delay the benefits anticipated from the

programme.

The first phase sites could be progressed using a different commissioning option.

However, the development and regeneration programme offers a fast and efficient

route to development which will maximise the benefit from the significant amount of

work that has been done by the partner in collaboration with the council during the

procurement process.