The Victorian villa at 1 Morland Gardens, currently the “Brent Start” college. (Photo by Irina Porter)
Guest post by Philip Grant (in a personal capacity)
Over the past eighteen months, I’ve written a number of guest posts about Brent’s plans to demolish “Altamira”, this beautiful locally listed Victorian villa in Stonebridge, in order to redevelop the site. In June, I reported that their plans had been delayed, because Council officers had not carried out legal requirements, to build out over the highway and community garden in front of the property, which they’d been advised (in December 2018!) were necessary.
On 11 August 2021, notice was given of a Key Decision, made by the Strategic Director (Regeneration and Environment). Authority was given (subject to call-in) to re-tender for the Design & Build Contract for 1 Morland Gardens.
I’m not sure what the “design” side of this is about, as it was a very detailed design which was approved by Brent’s Planning Committee (despite strong grounds for objection to the proposed scheme) a year ago! The design, by architects Curl la Tourelle Head, even won an award in September 2020 (after being nominated for it by Brent Council).
The award-winning design for the new 1 Morland Gardens building (with an added observation).
The Report on which the Key Decision was based makes interesting reading. The reason why Brent’s Property and Assets team need authority to re-tender for the contract is because they received no bids, after they invited tenders in February 2021 (via a one-stage mini-competition under the Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) Contractor Framework agreement). Following feedback from potential contractors, they have now recommended ‘re-use of the existing NHG framework and re-tender under a two-stage D&B contract.’
The first stage would be a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (“PCSA”), under which the contractor would design the project, and at the same time come up with an overall fixed price for which they would carry out the whole construction project. If that price is within the Council’s budget for the project, the second (build) stage would be awarded to them, to carry out the work.
This approach does come with some risks. The report doesn’t mention the risk that none of the contractors invited to bid might decline to do so. It does say: ‘The main risk of a two-stage D&B process is that the contractor may not stay within the budget so the Council has to re-procure an alternative contractor.’ But if the first contractor can’t build what the Council wants for the price they are prepared to pay, what chance is there of finding another contractor who will?
How much is the budget? The Report says: ‘The Morland Gardens project budget was approved by Cabinet on 14 January 2020. The total project budget is £43m of which £41.5m was assigned for the redevelopment of the Morland Gardens site…. The pre-tender estimate for the redevelopment works of £39,820,380 is within this budget.’
But when Cabinet approved the scheme in January 2020, the Report to that meeting said: ‘Current estimates of build cost (excluding decant) are up to £42m.’ Have building costs gone down, not up in the past 20 months?*
One indication is that the estimated cost (in the January 2020 Report to Cabinet) of the building work needed at the Stonebridge Annexe, to prepare it as a temporary home for Brent Start while the redevelopment is carried out, was £500k. When the contract for that work was awarded towards the end of 2020, the cost had risen to £1.2m.
When Brent’s Cabinet approved the 1 Morland Gardens project in January 2020, they were told that work was likely to begin on site in September 2020, and that work should be completed by July 2022. Now, IF any acceptable bid is received under the re-tender exercise, the first stage of a contract is due to begin in November 2021.
If that goes successfully, and a price within budget is proposed by May 2022, work on site is expected to begin in July 2022, and take two years to complete. So, that’s when Brent’s redevelopment might happen.
Although, given Brent’s history of errors over this project since 2018, it might not.
Philip Grant.
*[Forecasts published by the RICS suggest a rise in tender prices of around 6.5% between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2022.]
2 comments:
A further thought on the building budget:
In the January 2020 report to Cabinet on this scheme, the cost of the "housing" element of the build was estimated at £26.2m. Of this, £19.7m would be borrowed by the Council on its Housing Revenue Account.
The other £6.5m would be funded by a grant from the Greater London Authority, of £100k for each new home, under its Affordable Homes programme for 2016-2021.
The funding held by the GLA for this programme comes from Central Government, and the time-frame for spending this money was extended by a year until 2021/22.
Unless there is a further extension (which I am not aware of), any project where the "start on site" is after 31 March 2022 would not qualify.
[Sings: 'There's a hole in my budget ...' - of £6.5million!]
FOR INFORMATION:
This is the text of an email I sent to the three Stonebridge Ward councillors on Saturday (14 August), with a pdf copy of the article above:-
'Dear Stonebridge Ward councillors,
Further to our exchange of emails, 19-21 June, did you receive a response from Council Officers to my article on the delay to their 1 Morland Gardens scheme? If so, I would be grateful if you would let me have a copy of that response, please.
I have now had a new short article published, following a Key Decision on 11 August about re-tendering for a contractor to carry out the redevelopment project. I attach a pdf copy of my article, for your information.
It is clear from the Report on which that decision was based that finding a contractor able to deliver the 1 Morland Gardens project on budget may prove very difficult. Although the Report does not mention it, there is also a risk that the further delays involved may mean that the proposed 65 homes may no longer qualify for £6.5m in funding from the GLA.
The report shows that the earliest possible start date for work on site would be the middle of 2022, with completion not before mid-2024. That is two years later than Cabinet were told, when they approved the scheme in January 2020!
Because continuing to press ahead with this bad scheme will tie-up the Stonebridge Primary School Annexe site, to provide a temporary home for Brent Start, the approved affordable housing plans for that site are also put in jeopardy.
The revised scheme for that site, which received planning consent on 14 May 2020 (ref. 20/0504), is meant to provide 14 family-sized houses and 13 smaller flats for people on the Council's waiting list, and 36 1-bedroom flats for supported living.
Those 36 units are an important part of Brent's NAIL (new accommodation for independent living) programme. The ever-increasing delays to the 1 Morland Gardens project would mean that the planning consent for them will expire a year before the Twybridge Way site is freed from its links to the 1 Morland Gardens project!
Surely it is time to call a halt to the current proposals for 1 Morland Gardens, so that the approved scheme for the Stonebridge Primary School Annexe can go ahead? We could then work on a better scheme for the Brent Start college and 1 Morland Gardens, which retains the locally listed Victorian villa and still provides some affordable homes.
One way which the reduction in the current target of 65 affordable homes at 1 Morland Gardens could be compensated for would be the proposal which I have made (and which Councillor Knight will have received a copy of yesterday), for more "social rent" affordable homes in the Wembley Housing Zone scheme. Other councillors are welcome to read about that here:
https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2021/08/wembley-housing-zone-is-this-answer-to.html
I look forward to hearing from you, and to working with you and Council Officers to find a better answer for "Altamira" than the current flawed proposals, which are digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole, and blocking a much better scheme further down Hillside while doing so! Best wishes,
Philip Grant.'
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