Grounds Maintenance
New Five Year Contracts Awarded
Following a thorough tendering exercise new grounds maintenance
contracts have been awarded through three new contracts.
The successful tenderers were Banyards
Limited, who were awarded the Dorset area contract and Western
Landscapes Limited who were awarded contracts in South Devon and
South Somerset, and North Devon and North Somerset areas.
Western Landscapes work under the name of Wyevale Landscapes.
The award of the contracts follows a thorough tender process
that involved staff and residents who worked with an external
consultant. The group agreed the specification of the works
and also two alternative variations to the standard
specification.
Prices were sought from suitable companies following a
pre-qualifying process. In addition prospective providers
were asked to complete statements about various aspects of the work
so that their approach could be assessed. Three references
were also taken up for each of the potential providers. Staff
and residents worked hard to evaluate the tender responses.
There were three staff and six residents working in the project
group.
Thorough consultation was also undertaken with residents who pay
service charges for grounds maintenance and also for other
residents who benefit from grounds features around their
homes. Around 3,800 residents receive a grounds maintenance
service and they were all included in the consultation
exercises.
In the final analysis the standard of grounds maintenance
selected was the Enhanced Standard. The project group was
advised that this enhanced level of service was affordable within
existing overall costs. So the exercise has enabled us to
improve our services within existing budgetary provision, a good
Value for Money achievement.
The Enhanced Standard includes removal of grass clippings from
lawn areas which are mainly within enclosed areas around flats,
particularly those which offer independent living. Grass
clippings being left on lawn areas has long been a cause for
complaint from residents and the inclusion of this aspect in the
Enhanced Standard is seen as a significant achievement. It
does not, however, mean that grass clippings will be picked up from
general grassed areas, that would be very expensive, however there
are clearly defined maximum heights of grass permissible under the
new contracts. The Enhanced Standard also means that a higher
standard of grass cutting generally should be maintained and hedges
will get more frequent clipping.
The contracts in the Dorset area and North Devon and North
Somerset were awarded to the companies who were both the highest
scoring and lowest prices at the selected standard. The South
Devon and South Somerset contract was awarded to the lowest priced
contractor, and although they were not the highest scoring
contractor they were just 0.35% lower scoring than their
competitors. The cost saving here was significant and in
selecting the lowest priced tender the project group was mindful of
the contributions to be paid by service charge payers.
Work has started under the new contracts and hopefully there
have not been too many teething problems. Two contract
meetings have already been held with Banyards and regular contract
meetings with Wyevale are commencing. Meetings will initially
be held monthly and residents from the original project group will
be attending these meetings.
We are in the process of producing a leaflet for distribution to
residents that sets out the standards in the new contracts and what
to do if they have any complaints.