Purpose

To
approve the appointment Heidelberg Materials as the main contractor for

the
construction of a new Blandford Waste Management Centre.

 

·
For Phase 1 Highways Works element only (Signed off 6/2/25)

 

·
Phase 2 Main Works to follow once pricing exercise has been completed (12/5/25)

 

Content

 

The
Executive Director for Place approved the appointment Heidelberg Materials as
the main contractor for

the
construction of a new Blandford Waste Management Centre.

 

· For
Phase 1 Highways Works element only (Signed off 6/2/25)

 

·
Phase 2 Main Works to follow once pricing exercise has been completed (12/5/25)

 

Revision 2 of this delegated decision covers the formal
decision to commence the Phase 2 works following a formal evaluation of the
confirmed contracted costs, that were not available at the commencement of the Phase
1 decision stage.

Reasons for the decision

The
project is for Construction of a Waste Management Centre to the northeast of Blandford
Forum, Dorset, to provide a Household Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station
with access off the A350. The current WTS in Blandford is an adapted grain
store which forms part of a combined site adjacent to the HRC. The site is
small and is in poor condition offering little scope for improvements in
processing efficiency and landfill disposal diversion. The Blandford Waste
Management Centre is being project managed by Assets and Property on behalf of
Dorset Council’s waste services.

 

The
need for a replacement WMC in the Blandford area was identified by Dorset
Council’s Waste Services (formally the Dorset Waste Partnership) and several
sites were put forward for consideration as part of the Bournemouth,
Christchurch, Poole and Dorset Waste Plan 2019.

 

Cabinet
– 28 January 2025

Tender
& Procure approval – Decision

1.
That Cabinet approve the award of a contract to construct and develop a new
waste management centre at Blandford, using Dorset Highways Works Term Service
Contract within the approved capital funding.

 

2.
That Authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Place in consultation
with the Cabinet Member for Place Services and the Section 151 Officer to agree
the contract terms

 

Alternative options considered

Alternative options considered
and rejected:

Option 1 – To award the main
refurbishment contract for Blandford Waste Management Centre to an alternative
contractor. Contracting via the existing Dorset Highways Works Term Service
Contract (DHWTSC) with fee charges as established under this Contract.
Heidelberg Materials (Formally Hanson Construction) has had informal early
contractor engagement on this project since mid-2020 to allow for input into
design and value engineering.

 

‘Construction of Waste Management
Sites’ is detailed as part of the of the Dorset Highways Works Term Service
Contract scope.

 

Option 2 – To not award the design
and build contract for Blandford Waste Management Centre to Heidelberg
Materials. The Heidelberg Materials tender return has been considered by
officers and Currie and Brown to be the most economically advantageous tender
return and provided the best value for money for the council. The tender return
was within the project budget.

 

To go out to general market would
take additional time and could be damaging to the Highways Business Partner
relationship.

 

Option 3 – To not proceed with the
for Blandford Waste Management Project project. This
option would result in the council not taking forward a project that forms an
essential provision of waste management infrastructure for the future.

 

The new facility will replace the
current waste management facility in Blandford which is inadequate for needs of
the service and is on a short-term lease arrangement. The current site is the
waste service’s busiest site in Dorset, in terms of the volume of material
passing through the transfer buildings, yet the least efficient and most at
risk of service failure which would severely impact the kerbside waste
collections. Poor access enforced tipping windows (time slots), a lack of
drainage, no fire suppression, disruption to neighbouring businesses, impacts
on waste collection operations, all results in an inefficient service. At
present the collection service has to divert some
waste to Sherborne due to the limited availability at Blandford.