ordinary meeting of council to be held on tuesday, 18 july 2006

Ordinary Meeting <strong>of</strong> Council - 18 July 2006 12 / 2
Item 12
S04855
19 June 2006
PURPOSE OF REPORT
For Council <strong>to</strong> consider options in lieu <strong>of</strong> the proposed construction works <strong>of</strong> a fire trail network in
bushland <strong>be</strong>tween North Wahroonga <strong>to</strong> North Turramurra.
BACKGROUND
In 2005 Council adopted the program <strong>of</strong> works accompanying the Environmental Levy. Within this
were four projects <strong>to</strong> construct and upgrade Council’s fire trail network with a focus on the
bushland area adjoining the Ku-ring gai Chase National Park. Most significant was construction <strong>of</strong>
three sections <strong>of</strong> fire trail <strong>to</strong> link Grosvenor Street North Wahroonga <strong>to</strong> Bobbin Head Road North
Turramurra. The indicative funding for these projects was estimated <strong>to</strong> <strong>be</strong> $750,000 and would
involve the construction <strong>of</strong> new sections <strong>of</strong> fire trail, improvements <strong>to</strong> existing tracks and the
construction <strong>of</strong> two bridges. The indicative timing <strong>of</strong> construction for the three sections was <strong>to</strong>
occur <strong>be</strong>tween the financial years 2005/06 <strong>to</strong> 2008/09.
In Septem<strong>be</strong>r 2005 the services <strong>of</strong> a consultant was sought <strong>to</strong> investigate and provide a detailed
survey, assessment and design specifications on the construction <strong>of</strong> fire trail network. Council
initially approached the commercial arm <strong>of</strong> the Department <strong>of</strong> Lands, Soil Services. Unfortunately
after a num<strong>be</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>meeting</strong>s and site inspections, Soil Services was not able <strong>to</strong> commit <strong>to</strong> the project.
Following this, three other consultants were approached, however, each declined the project. An
advertisement was then placed in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday 1 and Tuesday 4 Oc<strong>to</strong><strong>be</strong>r
2005, inviting the market <strong>to</strong> express their interest in this phase <strong>of</strong> the project. Only one response
was received that later withdrew. Further discussions with a num<strong>be</strong>r <strong>of</strong> civil works contrac<strong>to</strong>rs led
<strong>to</strong> the release <strong>of</strong> seven briefs <strong>to</strong> civil engineering related firms. Only two responded, neither <strong>of</strong>
which had experience in fire trail design and specifications. Forestry NSW were then contacted <strong>to</strong>
determine if they had used any external consultants or were interested in assisting Council in this
project. Whilst they declined, they did recommend LandVision Solution Pty Ltd. A <strong>meeting</strong> was
<strong>held</strong> with this company on 4 Novem<strong>be</strong>r 2005, after which they were engaged <strong>to</strong> undertake the
necessary survey, assessment and design.
The design specifications and annotated diagrams were finalised on 31 March 2006 and
incorporated in<strong>to</strong> the standard AUS-SPEC #3 tender document. Tenders were invited through the
Sydney Morning Herald on 8, 11, 12 April 2006. As part <strong>of</strong> the tender process a site <strong>meeting</strong> for
interested tenderers was <strong>held</strong> on 26 April 2006 at Golden Jubilee Oval. A fee <strong>of</strong> $110.00 was
charged for the purchase <strong>of</strong> the tender and 20 copies <strong>of</strong> the document were purchased.
COMMENTS
Twelve tenders were received in accordance with the tendering requirements. Ten were found <strong>to</strong> <strong>be</strong>
complying and two non-complying.
In assessing tenders, the following weighted criterion was used:
N:\060718-OMC-SR-03446-CONSTRUCTION OF A FIRE TR.doc/kenglish /2