Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2022-03-01
Buyer: Ashford Borough Council
Country: UK
Contract type: Works
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 45212000: Construction work for leisure buildings
Estimated value: 80250000 GBP
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Bygge- og anlægsarbejde i forbindelse med bygninger til fritidsaktiviteter, sport, kultur, indkvartering og restauranter
Bauarbeiten für Gebäude, die der Freizeitgestaltung, dem Sport, der Kultur, der Unterbringung und Verpflegung dienen
Κατασκευαστικές εργασίες για κτίρια αναψυχής, αθλητισμού, πολιτιστικών εκδηλώσεων, στέγασης και εστιατορίων
Trabajos de construcción de edificios relacionados con el ocio, los deportes, la cultura y el alojamiento y restaurantes
Travaux de construction de bâtiments destinés aux loisirs, aux sports, à la culture, à l'hébergement et de restaurants
Građevinski radovi na zgradama u vezi s odmorom i razonodom, sportom, kulturom, smještajem i restoranima
Roboty budowlane w zakresie budowy wypoczynkowych, sportowych, kulturalnych, hotelowych i restauracyjnych obiektów budowlanych
Obras de construção de edifícios relacionados com recreio, desporto, cultura, alojamento e restauração
Lucrări de construcţii de clădiri destinate activităţilor de recreere, sportive, culturale, de cazare şi restaurante
Bygg- och anläggningsarbeten: byggnader för fritidsaktiviteter, idrott, kultur, inkvartering och restaurangverksamhet
A development agreement (“DA”) was originally entered into in 2010 between the South East England Development Agency (“SEEDA”) and Stanhope PLC and concerned the re-development, in  phases, of a site in the centre of Ashford known as Elwick Place according to a masterplan to be agreed between the parties. In 2015 the Council acquired the site and the rights and obligations formerly vested in SEEDA under the DA. The Phases are now as follows: Phase 1 (cinema, hotel, restaurants, retail units and car park), Phase 2 (200 residential flats) and Phase 3 (yet to be agreed). The parties have now agreed certain changes to the DA. This notice concerns those changes.
Phase 1 of the development has now been completed. The DA required Stanhope to begin the process of drawing down Phase 2 prior to two key dates: the “Long Stop Date” (16 March 2022) and the “Phase Termination Date” (4 May 2022) but it may only do so after satisfying a number of conditions. Delays caused by (a) the Covid-19 pandemic; and (b) the Stodmarsh issue (see below) each independently and also together cumulatively mean that Stanhope will not be able to meet the conditions before the deadlines.
The Stodmarsh issue arises from formal statutory advice issued by Natural England in 2020 on development proposals in the Stour Valley River Catchment Area ( “SVRCA”) and the potential for these to increase harmful nutrient impacts at designated protected lakes at Stodmarsh in east Kent. The SVRCA covers large parts of Ashford Borough including Elwick Place. Planning applications for housing development within the SVRCA cannot now be determined until formal assessment  of the effects on the Stodmarsh Lakes has been completed by the Council as planning authority. The Council is progressing a strategy to offer suitable mitigations for sites (such as Elwick Phase 2) not able to offer onsite mitigation, but timescales for this are uncertain so it is unclear when the planning authority will be able to grant a Phase 2 planning permission on terms that will enable the drawdown conditions to be satisfied. Accordingly, the Council has resolved in principle to extend each of the deadlines (the "Extension") by up to 515 days or (if later) until 40 days after (i) any off-site Stodmarsh mitigation measures required of the developer in respect of Phase 2 have been complied with or if later (ii) the period for any Judicial Review challenge to the Phase 2 planning permission has expired with no challenge being made or any challenge has been resolved Provided that if Stanhope has yet to complete a planning obligation that would result in the issue of a Phase 2 planning permission the maximum Extension is 9 months from the date on which the local Council's resolution to grant a Phase 2 planning permission will not require any offsite Stodmarsh mitigation measures to be complied with by Stanhope. The aim is to restore Stanhope, in terms of the timing of Phase 2, to the situation it would have been in had Covid and Stodmarsh not intervened. The parties have also provided for new activity milestones in respect of Phase 2. If Stanhope fails to achieve any of these milestones the Council may terminate the DA. Additionally, Stanhope has agreed to relinquish certain rights it had over the Phase 3 land.
The current value of the Development Agreement as provided in this notice strips out the effects of inflation, as required by Article 72(3) of Directive 2014/24/EU.
Article 72(1)(c) of Directive 2014/24/EU applies. Stanhope planned to seek bids from residential development and funding partners in Spring 2020, in ample time to satisfy the drawdown conditions for Phase 2 within the  terms of the DA. The March 2020 Covid national lockdown and the ongoing restrictions thereafter radically altered the situation causing huge uncertainties for valuation, funding and development generally. Funders were preoccupied with preserving their existing investments through the unprecedented crisis: there was no appetite for taking on new projects. Accordingly, Stanhope was advised not to engage the market as planned. Only in late Spring 2021 was Stanhope able to progress the appointment of partners and the process of satisfying the drawdown conditions, which nonetheless cannot be completed until the Stodmarsh situation has been resolved.


Winner: Stanhope PLC
Award value: 80250000
Number of bids: 1