Decision Maker: Mid Suffolk Cabinet
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: Yes
To approve a contractor for the Needham Lake
café/visitor centre following the tender process.
It was RESOLVED:-
1.1 That Option 2 of the report which seeks additional funding of £200,000 from the Business Rate Retention Pilot Fund to deliver the Visitor Centre and café be approved.
1.2 That delegated authority be granted to the Strategic Director to appoint the contractor to build the facility.
Reason for Decision: To deliver a high quality and environmentally sustainable building to: promote quality of life for the local community; increase visitor spend in the local economy; support community capacity building and engagement; maximise a Council asset; encourage increased physical activity and improved use of open space; and ensure efficient management of the delivery of the facility.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
OPTION ONE: To reduce the facilities at the site and provide the scheme within the original budget. This would require a reduction in both the footprint of the centre and some of the environmental sustainability features. It would also remove the Changing Places facility so that centre is delivered within the original budget.
OPTION TWO: To approve the extra funding and proceed with a project that responds to the consultation with the public and integrates a Changing Places facility, that maximises the environmental features and is of a size consistent with the demand generated by approximately 380,000 visitors per year.
Option Two would provide added value by keeping the high quality, sustainability and size of the building, while also retaining the designed environmental features, consistent with Mid Suffolk’s strategic climate change priorities. It would future-proof the building to accommodate further growth in numbers visiting the site and retain the Changes Places facility to ensure that the Visitor Centre remained accessible to all. This Changing Places facility would be one of only a handful in Mid Suffolk. Option Two also means that the building itself would remain sensitive to its location.
Any Declarations of Interests Declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Publication date: 11/03/2020
Date of decision: 09/03/2020
Decided at meeting: 09/03/2020 - Mid Suffolk Cabinet
Effective from: 19/03/2020
Accompanying Documents: