The town council’s £260,000 project to construct a new concrete skate park in the grounds of Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre reached a significant milestone in January with the selection of Wheelscape as the preferred contractor.
In view of the value of the project, an invitation to tender for the construction work had to be advertised on a regional procurement website and four “substantial” tenders were received by the closing date of 15th December 2014.
A working group, formed of young people who use the existing skate park, councillors, council officers and the council’s youth development & participation worker Graham Baker, was then convened to evaluate the tenders according to detailed criteria specified in the ‘invitation to tender’ document.
By Christmas, and following three meetings of the working group, three companies were shortlisted and invited to a presentation and Q & A session on 15th January. A recommendation to endorse Wheelscape as the preferred contractor was subsequently confirmed by Full Council on 21st January.
Councillors noted the “tremendous” amount of work put in by everyone involved in evaluating the tenders. The young people on the working group in particular were praised for their comprehensive and sensible contributions to the process.
Mr Baker said it was very important that young people had been heavily involved in the decision making process and he hoped that this would send a clear message about the valued and positive place of young people in the local community.
The core design of the new skate park includes elements up to 9ft high, which will provide “challenge for young people of high ability”. The winning contractor is required to undertake further public consultation by 27th February, following which minor changes to the skate park design may be made.
A final design will be presented to the town council for approval by 6th March, following which a formal planning application will be made to South Gloucestershire Council. Subject to approval within the usual timeframe, construction of the skate park is expected to start in early July, with completion scheduled for the end of September.
The value of the construction contract is £230,000, with the remainder of the estimated £260,000 total being spent on survey work, pre-tender work, tender evaluation and construction management.
£100,000 of the project funding has come from the New Homes Bonus Fund allocated to South Gloucestershire Council’s Southern Brooks Area Forum. A further £100,000 has come from South Gloucestershire Council’s capital expenditure budget. The town council will make up the remainder from its own reserves.
The option for part of the new skate park to have a roof, so that it could be used in wet weather, was not included in the tender requirements, although there is talk of an application being made to the National Lottery to fund this possibility.
Image: Winning design for the new skate park at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre. It will be located on a triangle of land north-east of the overflow car park (seen lower left).
Image: Location of the proposed new skate park.
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This article originally appeared in the February 2015 edition of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine, delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
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