Barrow Town Centre Improvements - Design Commission

1.1 Introduction and Background

Marina Village is a proposed mixed-use scheme that would transform a currently derelict brownfield site on the north side of Buccleuch Dock, on the edge of Barrow-in-Furness town centre.

The majority of the 25-hectare site is in council ownership. Funding has been secured through Getting Building Fund to remediate the ground conditions across a first development phase (approx. 6 hectares), which can be accessed via a new purpose built access off Salthouse Road.

The south and east of the Marina Village site require additional enabling works, presenting a viability challenge for private developers. The Council has secured £1.5m to provide an upgraded junction to the south west of the Marina Village site connecting Cavendish Dock Road to Strand / Salthouse Road and to relocate a new substation and utilities diversions on the east of the site. These interventions remove two major constraints on further private sector development.

The project is at a stage where it requires a detailed design to be undertaken with associated additional survey and investigation works to enable the project to be let for construction by competitive tender via the Chest. Planning permission will also be required as Cavendish Dock Road is currently not adopted and due to its setting in relation to a number of listed buildings.

This project scope details the Services required to

1. enable the upgrade of the existing Cavendish Dock Road/Salthouse Road junction to a fit for purpose right turn priority junction (as detailed within the existing concept design).
2. Act as agent on behalf of the Council and engage with ENW to secure the relocation of the sub station at Marina Village.

The anticipated value of this commission is £150,000

Key Project developments:

i. The Council has developed a sketch design for the scheme to inform the Brownfield land release fund application.

ii. The unadopted Cavendish Dock Road is owned by Barrow Borough Council. The majority of the Marina Village site is within Barrow BC ownership, but some properties remain in private ownership. The scheme must be constructed within the parcels of land owned by Barrow BC.

iii. There are a significant number of statutory undertakers infrastructure in the area including Vodafone broadband, IP gas, electric cables and water. From experience on the junction works undertaken in 2018, the lowering/relocation had significantly long lead in times and any diversionary/lowering works should be undertaken prior to the appointment of a lead contractor (where practicable) and supervised by the principal designer.

iv. Modelling is required to inform the junction design. This should be undertaken in conjunction with development management and infrastructure planning team within Cumbria County Council.

v. Salthouse road is within Cumbria County Council’s LCWIP and therefore the design of the junction needs to be considerate of the requirements within LTN 1/20 guidance.

vi. Pre application discussions with the planners have raised the following points:

a) The impact on the setting of the local listed buildings needs to be assessed.

b) An offsite biodiversity net gain of 10% needs to be secured.

c) A limited public realm improvement scheme may be required in front of the former railway men’s club.

vii. Barrow Borough Council have procured the following services prior to the design being launched:

a) Topographical survey

b) Utility detection survey

c) Drainage survey

viii. No orders have been placed with ENW regarding the relocation of the existing substation.

1.2 Employer’s Objectives

The Council has the following objectives for the delivery of the services:

• Undertaken in a spirit of collaboration and co-operation.
• Completed in good time.
• Reflective of the professionalism of a competent Consultant.
• Focused on measurable outcomes that benefit the users.
• Consistent with the corporate objectives of The Council.
• Transparent, fair and honest.
• Flexible and responsive to changing service needs.
• Focused on enhancing outcomes for users whilst improving service efficiency.

The Council has the following objectives for the delivery of the Project:

• To design a right turn priority junction at the junction of Salthouse Road/Cavendish Dock Road.
• To produce Works Information, Site Information and Pre-Construction Information, to enable the project to be tendered competitively via the Councils Capital Works Framework.
• To procure any additional third party investigations on behalf of the Council (such as trial holes).
• To secure planning consent on behalf of the Council.
• To relocate the substation on Marina Village and consider the requirement for future capacity upgrades to support future housing development.

1.3 Employer’s Authorised Representatives