Issue - meetings

Purpose of report

To seek approval of the budget required to remediate the Council-owned site off Turnpike Close, Grantham.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves an additional budget allocation of £150,000 for the remediation of the Council asset at Turnpike Close, Grantham and this allocation be funded from the Local Priorities Reserve.

2.    Approves the remediation of the site and delegates authority to the Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property, to confirm the appointment of a contractor to undertake the works within the budget envelope of £245,000.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Cabinet could have agreed to leave the site in its existing condition or undertake the works as part of a main contract at a later stage.

Reason for decision

In April 2021, the Council purchased land at Turnpike Close, Grantham, for the proposed relocation of its operational depot which was currently situated at Alexandra Road in Grantham.

It had been identified through the lead consultant commissioned as part of procurement process associated with the acquisition of the land that the land required a significant amount of demolition and remediation works to prepare the site before any construction could commence. Two quotes for these remediation works had been received from contractors to date, however, it was proposed that the Council approached a framework to appoint a contractor so that site management and set up costs would be included as part of the contract and reduce costs, as opposed to including this in a main construction contract at a later stage.

£95,000 was remaining in the budget originally allocated after deduction of legal fees, surveys and consultants’ fees. It was therefore proposed that the remaining balance was increased by a further £150,000 to provide a maximum budget envelope of £245,000 for the demolition and remedial works.

The following comments were noted during discussion:

·         Clarification was sought as to whether this was the right time to commit to such expenditure when the total costs associated with the scheme were unknown. The demolition and remedial works needed to be undertaken before any further works could commence on the site. A point was made that, in the event that the proposed development of the site did not take place, the undertaking of these works would make the land more marketable to potential purchasers. It was considered more cost effective to procure these works now as opposed to paying potentially inflated rates at a later date as a result of the current economic climate and cost of living crisis

·         This represented a key project for the district, creating light industrial units and regeneration of a town centre site in Grantham