Invitation to Quote
Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts Whitehill & Bordon, Hampshire
PROJECT BRIEF Introduction Background Objectives Scope Key deliverables Project management Information sources Documents and copyright Appendix 1 – Whitehill & Bordon area plan
East Hampshire District Council January 2014 Contact Details: Susan Robbins Economic Development Lead Whitehill & Bordon Project East Hampshire District Council Penns Place Petersfield Hampshire GU31 4EX Email : whitehillbordon@easthants.gov.uk
Version: No. 1.0 2.0
Date 6 January 2014 20 January 2014
Author Susan Robbins Susan Robbins
Version status Draft for comment Final
Whitehill & Bordon Invitation to Quote - Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts
Introduction East Hampshire District Council wish to appoint specialist consultants to provide an evidence base that illustrates the financial and economic impact of the regeneration of Whitehill & Bordon, with particular reference to the impact on the local public purse. It is expected that following the departure of the Bordon Garrison, and the c.600 jobs that will leave too, that there will be an initial negative impact in the town’s economy – as employment opportunities are reduced, benefit payments increase, business rate revenues reduce etc. However it is believed that over time this negative impact will turn into a positive one as new employment opportunities increase, benefit payments reduce, business rates and Council tax revenues increase and the impact of the new homes bonus is factored in. There may be other impacts that have not been considered as well. The Council wishes to have the financial impacts of the development benefits analysed and modelled in order to quantify the full range of costs and returns that will accrue from the planned regeneration investment.
Background The town, made up of the communities of Whitehill, Bordon and Lindford, currently has a population of approximately 16,000 people, and is a garrison town located in the south east of England, 46 miles from central London. Along the A3, the nearest major towns are Guildford to the north and Portsmouth to the south. The town serves as a gateway to the South Downs National Park and there are several designated sites for nature conservation in and around the town. In 2009 Whitehill & Bordon was one of four communities in England to be selected for Eco-town status. East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has benefited from government funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to kick-start a number of projects in the town, and to bring forward the entire development which will bring an estimated investment of £1.5 billion to the town. Most of this investment will be in the construction of up to 4,000 new homes, commercial and retail space to support the generation of 5,500 jobs, education and community facilities and new infrastructure. The Whitehill & Bordon project is being lead by a partnership of landowners - EHDC, the Ministry of Defence, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Hampshire County Council and the Homes and Communities Agency. Local stakeholders are also engaged and include Whitehill Town Council and Whitehill & Bordon Town Partnership. The regeneration of Whitehill & Bordon is one of the highest priorities for the district council. EHDC also takes a lead in facilitating and enabling local economic growth and prosperity and will seek to work with the private sector, local businesses and the Enterprise M3 local enterprise partnership to secure the resources and skills to support its work.
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Whitehill & Bordon Invitation to Quote - Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts
Progress to date The Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town Masterplan (revised May 2012) has been adopted by the District Council. To underpin the masterplan, and to support the nature of development proposed, the Whitehill & Bordon project team has developed a broad evidence base. This includes detailed work around utilities, green infrastructure, transport and economic potential. The viability of the scheme has also been modelled and further work on this is being commissioned for completion in March 2014. The scheme is now moving from its planning stage into delivery with a number of developments and sites coming forward. This includes the retrofitting and conversion of the former MoD fire station into an exhibition space, the construction of an exhibition house to demonstrate energy and water efficiency technologies, Quebec Park being developed by Radian for 100 homes and a business centre, and Louisburg Barracks as the next site for 500 homes, employment and the first section of the inner relief road.
Objectives The purpose of this work is to provide the Council and project partners with a detailed and quantified forecast of the benefits that will accrue from regeneration development. The work will be used to:
Support the case for public sector investment in the project and up-front value generating infrastructure in particular, by demonstrating the long-term economic uplift this will facilitate.
Support applications for funding by demonstrating the cost to the public purse (local and national) of not investing and the potential return if development does take place.
Provide the evidence to present a balanced argument by comparing the impacts of various scenarios; do nothing; low quality market-led scheme; planned regeneration with public investment.
Scope The consultants are required to:
Produce a base case model of the economic and social status of the town as it is presently
Model the economic and social impact of the regeneration of the town as planned
Model the economic and social impact if there were less investment by the public sector and a lower quality housing scheme without the attention to new jobs and new facilities were developed.
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Whitehill & Bordon Invitation to Quote - Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts
The Site The Whitehill & Bordon regeneration is predominately focused on the development of former MoD land at Bordon Garrison and the Defence School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. But, it also covers the existing residents within the communities of Whitehill, Bordon and Lindford. It is important to understand the positive impact on the wider town that the new development will offer together with the negative consequences of not undertaking a planned scheme of development. The study area is the Whitehill & Bordon town encompassing the wards of Whitehill and Lindford and taking account of the development planned on the vacated MoD sites of Quebec Barracks, Louisburg Barracks, Prince Philip Barracks and the Technical Training Area. See appendix 1 for area plan. The life of the development project is from 2014 to 2036 and will be delivered over a number of phases. There is a high level infrastructure delivery plan (IDP) that covers the development and shows the likely phasing and value of the infrastructure required based on a quantum of development of 4,000 homes and 5,500 jobs. The current population of the existing local community is 16,000 and there are some 6,500 dwellings. Statement of Requirements and Key Deliverables The consultants are required to produce a final report that, in short, demonstrates the socio-economic impact of the vacation of the Bordon Garrison and models the impact (positive or negative) on the public purse (local and national) of future development scenarios. The report should cover the following aspects of work:
Local impact of the MoD loss within the community and across East Hampshire District in terms of jobs and value of spend – level of dependency
Establish the current benefit expenditure in the town, broken down by type and volume
The Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution of the local business base and future gain through business growth
Estimate the cost in terms of social (e.g. health and crime), economic and environmental capital of three scenarios 1. not undertaking the regeneration programme and the decline that could occur 2. low quality market-led development that would occur naturally 3. a value regeneration scheme based on improved infrastructure and enhanced
standards
To calculate the financial benefits (or not) of regeneration – in terms of tax take and benefit burdens from within the community
Re-set a baseline of indicators against which to track the regeneration of the town and the prosperity impacts.
Recommend how to monitor and capture data throughout the programme to allow its evaluation
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Whitehill & Bordon Invitation to Quote - Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts
In support of the report and in order to present the financial information and models it is anticipated that a workshop with landowners and project partners will be required. The consultants must provide a model of the financial impacts that can be interrogated and updated by the District Council. This must also include details of the sources of data and any underpinning assumptions.
Project management Programme Stage no. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Tasks
Target completion
Invitation to quote issued Response deadline Appointment of consultants Inception meeting Interim report Draft report presented to Whitehill & Bordon Delivery & Implementation Team Final report submitted
21 January 2014 7 February 2014 12 February 2014 17 February 2014 7 March 2014 17 March 2014 31 March 2014
Budget Anticipated budget for this work is £15,000 excluding VAT but including expenses. EHDC will follow a competitive tendering process and invite five quotes. Consultancy team The lead consultant will be a specialist in economic modelling, regeneration development investment and public finances. Project management The project will be led by Susan Robbins, Economic Development Lead. A steering group will be set up comprising the relevant EHDC Officers and project partners. Any interdependencies with other work will be managed through project programming to manage risks, resources, share information and avoid duplication. The consultant will work closely with the following: EHDC officers: Steve Pearce, Project Director Whitehill & Bordon Louise Waite, Urban Design and Planning consultant, Whitehill & Bordon Kate Hillerby, Funding Manager, Whitehill & Bordon Dan Grindey, Service Manager, Economic Development Project partners: Ian Parker and Richard Oldman, Hampshire County Council Wendy Ivess-Mash, Defence Infrastructure Organisation James Rowley, Homes and Communities Agency
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Whitehill & Bordon Invitation to Quote - Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts
Information sources More information on the regeneration plans for Whitehill & Bordon can be found on the website: www.whitehillbordon.com including the following background documents: Economic Development Inward Investment strategy, 2013 Inward Investment sector research, 2012 Economic Development & Employment strategy, 2011 Whitehill Bordon Economic Potentials Study 2009 Planning (at www.easthants.gov.uk) Whitehill & Bordon Masterplan (revised May 2012) East Hampshire District Local Plan: Joint Core Strategy (Proposed Further Modifications, August 2013) Statement of Common Ground between East Hampshire District Council, Hampshire County Council and Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Homes & Communities Agency. Further documents will be made available to successful consultants upon commission of the work, including: Socio-economic Whitehill/Bordon Opportunity Baseline Report, 2009 Whitehill & Bordon Community Profile – Census 2011 Experian Mosaic community profile Place Profile, East Hampshire District Council – Local Futures Population projections (Hampshire County Council) Financial Business rates and council tax projections Infrastructure Delivery Plan Documents and Copyright All reports should be generated in A4 format where possible. Legibility, grammatical correctness and plain English are essential. Where financial reports contain commercially sensitive material they should be presented separately. Consultants should have regard to Freedom of Information legislation. The final submission will include three hard copies in colour and electronic copies of high resolution version (and low-resolution version for the website), background data and drawings on a CD. The EHDC corporate identity should be used in all reports. Drawings should be provided in high quality PDF format and in full digital format e.g. AutoCAD, GIS shape files. Consultants will be able to make use of EHDC’s ownership of copyrights of the Ordnance Survey subject to filling in a copyright form. This information is available in GIS shape file format and the consultant should have in-house software license to transfer this into CAD or other formats. The consultants will have access to all masterplanning work to date prepared by the Council. The client, EHDC reserves the right to retain and publish all documents from the study, including working documents that they may request. The copyright will remain with EHDC. 6
Whitehill & Bordon Invitation to Quote - Valuing Regeneration – prosperity impacts
Appendix 1. Whitehill & Bordon area plan Masterplan (May 2012)
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