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Item no: 10
Subject: Springwood Town Centre Project
File no: F03231
Source: 2008-02-19 Council Meeting- Business Paper (PDF 4.6MB)

Item 10: Springwood Town Centre Project

Recommendation

That the Council notes the report and that a detailed report on the evaluation of the Expressions of Interest and options for community consultation and next stages of the process will be provided in a confidential report proposed to be presented to the March 11 Council Meeting.

Report by Acting Group Manager Community and Corporate

Reason for report

This report has been prepared in response to a Council resolution made at the meeting of 29 January 2008 on the motion of Councillors McInnes and O'Grady (S1. F00088 Springwood Town Centre Project):

That the Council receive a brief report at the next Council meeting on:

  1. The proposed community consultation process in relation to the Springwood Town Centre Project;
  2. The type of information that will be able to be released to the public from the Expression of Interest process by the Tender Evaluation Team;
  3. The option of reviewing the process to date and planning a revised process to occur should no proposals be found to be acceptable; and
  4. Where a Springwood Town Centre item appears on the Ordinary Council Meeting schedule that those meetings be held in Springwood. "

(Minute No. 391, 29/01/2008)

[The business paper numbers the last item as "5".]

Background

The Springwood Town Centre Project sought expressions of interest (EOIs) on the sale, lease or other agreement for three sites owned or managed by the Council located in the Springwood Town Centre. Expressions of Interest (EOIs) closed on 14 December 2007 and the tenders are currently being considered by a Tender Review Panel. The EOIs are confidential and under the Council policy for procurement will remain confidential.

A confidential report is proposed to be made to the Council meeting of 11 March 2008 presenting the findings of the Tender Review Panel on the Expressions of Interest for Springwood Town Centre. This report will outline options for Council to consider in terms of the consideration of the EOIs, and for community consultation processes. Options for the way forward will also be presented for consideration of the Council.

The detailed program for the Springwood Town Centre Project that was adopted by the Council ends with the reporting of the results of the tender process and consideration of tenders to proceed to a stage 2, request for detailed proposals.

Responses

In relation to the questions asked in the Notice of Motion brief responses are provided below.

1. The proposed community consultation process in relation to the Springwood Town Centre Project:

Council's consideration of an appropriate consultation process will need to be informed by an evaluation of the Expressions of Interest received. A number of options for a way forward, including community consultation processes, are proposed to be presented to the Council on 11 March 2008.

The options presented will discuss consultation on aspects of the Expressions of Interest received through the tender process. The options will also encompass consultation on the expectations of the community for the future role and development of the Town Centre. This could be focussed around review of key planning documents such as the Springwood Town Centre Master Plan; the Parking Policy; and the draft Springwood Town Centre Social and Cultural Services and Facilities Needs Assessment which is currently in preparation.

2. The type of information that will be able to be released to the public from the Expression of Interest process by the Tender Evaluation Team:

Under the Council Policy for procurement and best practice the actual EOIs and the tender evaluation report will always remain confidential.

However, subject to appropriate Council resolutions on or after 11 March 2008, there remains an opportunity to make public information related to either the preferred proposals, or to all proposals, which is considered by the Council and the proponents of each particular EOI to be non confidential information. Release of this non confidential information will be discussed in the Council report proposed for 11 March 2008.

3. The option of reviewing the process to date and planning a revised process to occur should no proposals be found to be acceptable:

This is one of the options which will be presented in the confidential report proposed for consideration by the Council at the Council Meeting of 11 March 2008.

4. Where a Springwood Town Centre item appears on the Ordinary Council Meeting schedule that those meetings be held in Springwood:

Only the Mayor can make the decision to hold a special meeting of the Council and, for practical reasons, this is not a decision which is made frequently.

The logistics associated with holding an ordinary or special meeting of the Council outside of the Council Chambers in Katoomba are difficult. There are also additional costs involved. These costs were quantified after the special Council Meeting held in Springwood on 12 October 2007.

If the purpose behind a request from the community to consider Springwood Town Centre Project items in Springwood is to permit community input and allow discussion related to the Council report it may be more effective to allow time within the project program to hold preliminary community consultation session/s in Springwood which will inform the preparation of the Council report.