Five Acres: No Gloucestershire firms bid for £9m project

A council has not been able to find local contractors to build a £9m leisure centre.

Forest of Dean District Council says it will now look further afield for a contractor for the Five Acres revamp, after no local firms bid for the project.

In 2021, the council received £20m of government Levelling Up funding.

This money will partly pay for the Five Acres revamp in Coleford, which will include a £9m leisure centre.

The planned complex, on the site of a former college, will also feature an all-weather pitch and a sports hall.

Cabinet member Paul Hiett told a council cabinet meeting on 13 April that 30 local companies had expressed an interest in bidding for the contract.

However, he said no formal bids had come in before the deadline on 15 March, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"Work has progressed at pace to acquire, demolish, clear and develop initial designs," said Cllr Hiett.

"We primarily set up this route so that local contractors could bid for the work.

"However, when bidding closed no actual bid was submitted."

Mr Hiett added that the scheme was "probably too big" for a lot of local companies.

The council cabinet agreed to appoint a contractor by using the Southern Construction Framework, as a way of finding the best value.

The next stage in the process will involve eight contractors bidding for the work.

The Five Acres development is being partly paid for by the Levelling Up Fund, and must be completed by March 2025, otherwise funding could be withheld or reclaimed.

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