Purpose

This decision sets out the proposed
recommendation for the regeneration works for St Mary’s
Churchyard. The purpose of the requirement is to undertake mixture
of hard and soft landscaping works to be undertaken at St
Mary’s churchyard, Watford. The open space at St Mary’s
is currently run down and underutilised by visitors and local
residents. St Mary’s Churchyard is an open space that merges
the Churchyard to the High Street within the Town Centre. The
improvements are a key deliverable in the Mayoral manifesto with
£410k allocated budget made up of UKSPF and Herts Growth Fund
grants.
The Council employed Southern Green through a competitive
procurement to undertake a design that satisfied the
council’s brief. Southern Green has worked with the council
and stakeholders to achieve an approved RIBA 3 design (concept)
following discussions with board overseeing the project and the
portfolio holder, it was agreed that the appointment of a single
Contractor (turnkey approach) that is capable of providing the full
works package and responsible for the full delivery was the most
suitable route . The Council’s intention through this
procurement is to deliver an accessible open space to be enjoyed by
all council residents with particular attractiveness for families
to use the Town centre.

Decision

Decision to award contract to via option 2
with the recommendation is to appoint Murrill’s under the
council’s Measured Term Contract.
The justification for the procurement route and achieving best
value is;
•It enables the Council to meet the current programme for
delivery in April 2025. the feedback from the supply market was
that the council would not have the realistic time to operate a
tender if the delivery of the works would be complete in Spring
2025.
•The Council will save money on the provision of the RIBA
stage 4 design with these funds being diverted to the works
solution.
•The proposed solution has been benchmarked for best value
against similar hardstanding and landscaping works undertaken by
neighbouring councils as well as HCC.
•The recommended route enables the council to use a local
contractor that it has established an excellent working
relationship on similar schemes across the town centre.
•Risk has been fully assessed as part of this Recommendation
with all risk and responsibility for the works tied into a single
contract.
The proposed contract will be a call off (NEC Short Form) from the
Measured term contract. Murrill’s will be contractually
responsible and will fully manage the subcontractor interfaces for
Landscaping and the procurement and installation of specialist
equipment. Murrill’s will be the Principal Contractor with
full responsibility for the site.