Western Harbour Masterplan

Introduction

Bristol City Council (BCC) has secured support from the West of England Combined Authority to take the next step to meet the challenge of the linked requirements to replace and/or renew the aging  road network (bridges and viaduct) and to regenerate the area.

The project arises from the confluence of two immediate priorities, which represent the long-term aims of the Western Harbour Masterplan and Infrastructure Delivery Plan.

• Transport network: keeping a strategic and local transport movement link open by renewing and/or replacing the road network (bridges and viaducts) including the Plimsoll swing bridge; and,
• Regeneration: realising Bristol’s Local Plan Review’s objective to grow and regenerate Western Harbour to deliver housing and jobs in line with commitments to the community in the Western Harbour Vision.

Engaging with the community as the project progresses will be required to visibly and tangibly demonstrate that their trust in developing the Western Harbour Vision in partnership with BCC is well placed.

Background

BCC sought to commission a design-led consultant team to deliver on the Western Harbour Vision through a RIBA Stage 2 Masterplan Concept Report and an Infrastructure Delivery Plan – Highway and Structures Options Appraisal Report.

This is an exciting opportunity to guide the rejuvenation of the western gateway to Bristol with its first-ever masterplan. The location is unique in many ways, with its view down Avon Gorge towards Clifton Suspension Bridge, its position as the western-most point of the floating harbour, as home to the three bonded warehouses, and as a key link in the road network. Western Harbour faces challenges in making sure the infrastructure and Bristol’s flood defences are fit for the 21st century, addressing the urgent ecological and climate emergencies, and to meet aspirations in the Local Plan Review to address the housing crisis.

The Western Harbour Masterplan and Infrastructure Delivery Plan Project area is approximately 33ha bounded to the north by Hotwells Road, Dowry Place and Oldfield Place, and includes the elevated flyover system. The central area includes the part of Spike Island west of Avon Crescent, Cumberland Basin, and the Plimsoll Swing Bridge. To the south of the New Cut, the boundary follows Brunel Way and Jessop Underpass.

The Scope

Initial Budget set at £2 Million.

The commission was to produce a RIBA Stage 2 Masterplan Concept Report and an Infrastructure Delivery Plan – Highway and Structures Options Appraisal Report, along with necessary project management and community engagement activities. It is summarised as four mutually informing workstreams:

• Masterplan Workstream
• Infrastructure Delivery Plan Workstream
• Community Engagement and Consultation Workstream
• Project and Interface Management Workstream
  
  

There are two key outputs for this project:

• Western Harbour RIBA Stage 2 Masterplan Concept Report and supporting documents, and
• Infrastructure Delivery Plan – Highway and Structures Options Appraisal Report

This commission represents Phase 1 of the overall Western Harbour Masterplan and Infrastructure Delivery Plan project. At the conclusion of Phase 1, it is expected that BCC’s Cabinet or relevant Committee as landowner, highway authority and harbour authority will have the opportunity to:

• Endorse the RIBA Stage 2 Masterplan and the preferred highway alignment, and approve submission of a funding request to the West of England Combined Authority for Phase 2 to produce the RIBA Stage 3 Masterplan; outline business case for the transport infrastructure and ongoing community engagement activities.

In parallel, there were ongoing workstreams being led by various teams within BCC that informed and will be informed by this project. Active interface management will be an important aspect of the day-to-day management of the project. In a number of cases, the interfaces are to ensure that the wider policy context and associated initiatives are reflected by the project, with some interfaces also having immediate design considerations. Of particular note, are the interfaces with: the Bristol Avon Flood Strategy team and ensuring place-led requirements identified by the team of consultants are realised; the Transport and Highways teams to ensure up-to-the-minute engineering and operational conditions are considered; and the Bristol City Leap team with requirements for a power generation facility and pipework.

Approach to Market 

To ensure BCC followed a compliant route to market, a thorough search was undertaken to establish whether there were any suitable internal Council or National Frameworks, which could deliver the Project Scope in a cost-effective and timely manner.  This proved fruitless and the Project Team with assistance from V4S decided to use the Open Market Procedure, as this approach:

• made the market aware of this opportunity to the whole market.
• involved more interested suppliers who will have capability and capacity.
  
  

Formal Procurement Approach 

V4S managed this process, which resulted in 19 tenders being received, by:

• review, compilation and issue of tender documents via ProContract.
• co-ordinating tender clarification

Evaluation  

V4S were responsible for the following:

• Scoring the mandatory selection questionnaire with BCC’s Project Manager.
• Managing the process with regards to excluding suppliers who failed the selection criteria 
• Lead on tender moderation with the Evaluation Team

Consequently, 8 remaining suppliers were evaluated against the stage 2 award criteria:

• Post tender clarifications were managed and responses co-ordinated with the Evaluation Team. 
• Undertook the complete commercial evaluation of the pricing schedule to ensure that the prices received were compliant, accurate, and that there were no erroneous rates.  This required in depth knowledge of rates for professional services to ensure that the suppliers could deliver on price. 
• Tender award reports.
• Assisting BCC legal with the contract document preparation and managing queries and the contract execution process.
• Issuing contract award notice. 

Challenges

The biggest challenge was:

• Suppliers not being able to return a tender on time, as there were issues with uploading quality returns to the social value portal  that BCC uses, which was further exacerbated by an earlier than usual Christmas shutdown on the day the tenders were due.   
• Therefore, to ensure fairness, tenders were received via the messaging facility and were then scored offline. This process was agreed by BCC’s Head of Procurement. No challenges were received and suppliers were satisfied with the process.

Added Value

• The contract was let at £1.17 million, which was £0.83 million or 70% below the Project Manager’s estimate of £2 million.
• The programme was maintained, and the Project commenced on 1st April 2024 and is due to complete on 31st May 2025.

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