The Executive Director (Development) has submitted a report to seek approval to (i) enter into a legal agreement with the Oxfordshire County Council to enable the completion of the Oxpens River Bridge, as set out within the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal; (ii) fund and enter into a construction contract to build the Oxpens River bridge, subject to agreement with Oxfordshire County Council; and (iii) enter into an agreement with OxWED (which owns some of the land on which the bridge will be situated) to facilitate the construction of the bridge.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.       Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development), in consultation with the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, to agree and enter into contractual terms with Oxfordshire County Council for £2.8 million of additional funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal Funds (OHGDF) and an amended collaboration agreement to cover revised project delivery arrangements, including fees and programme;

2.       Recommend to Council the establishment of an additional capital budget of £2.8 million in 2022/23 & 2023/24 funded from additional growth bid monies;

3.       Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development), in consultation with the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, to enter into contractual terms with a contractor for the pre-contract stages of the Oxpens River Bridge by signing a project order for providing detailed design, programme, and 100% market tested estimate for the bridge subject to the Council’s normal procurement procedures;

4.       Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development), in consultation with the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, to agree and enter into contractual terms with a contractor by signing a delivery agreement to build the bridge and carry out associated works subject to the project being deliverable within the funding available and compliant with the Council’s normal procurement procedures; and

5.       Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Communities and People), in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, the Head of Law and Governance, the Head of Financial Services/S151 Officer and the Head of Corporate Property to enter into a legally binding agreement(s) with OxWED to enable the bridge to be constructed from their land and over land to the rear of the ice rink and to undertake enabling works if appropriate to facilitate the delivery of the bridge.

The Executive Director (Development) had submitted a report to seek approval to (i) enter into a legal agreement with Oxfordshire County Council to enable the completion of the Oxpens River Bridge as set out within the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal; (ii) fund and enter into a construction contract to build the Oxpens River Bridge, subject to agreement with Oxfordshire County Council; and (iii) enter into an agreement with OxWED (which owned some of the land on which the bridge would be situated) to facilitate its construction.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, reported that the scheme had been initially identified a number of years ago.  It would represent a substantial enhancement to active travel within the city, significantly improving links between the Oxpens site and the broader Osney Mead site beyond.  The project was contingent on the allocation of Growth Deal Funding for part of the costs, and was therefore subject to the receipt by the County Council of the final £30m of Growth Deal infrastructure funding which the Government had committed to provide.  At the time of the meeting, this had not been received by the County Council.  Delegated authority was being sought to enable the project to move forward on receipt of the funding: however, in the event that it was not forthcoming new negotiations would be needed.

Value engineering work, to ensure that the project could be completed within the budget envelope, was ongoing and almost complete.  Submission of a planning application was contingent on this work being finalised, due to its potential to affect the final design.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.      Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development) in consultation with the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, to agree and enter into contractual terms with Oxfordshire County Council for £2.8 million of additional funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal Funds (OHGDF) and an amended collaboration agreement to cover revised project delivery arrangements including fees and programme;

2.      Recommend to Council the establishment of an additional capital budget of £2.8 million in 2022/23 and 2023/24 funded from additional growth bid monies;

3.      Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development) in consultation with the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery to enter into contractual terms with a contractor for the pre-contract stages of the Oxpens River Bridge by signing a project order for providing detailed design, programme and 100% market tested estimate for the bridge, subject to the Council’s normal procurement procedures;

4.      Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Development) in consultation with the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery to agree and enter into contractual terms with a contractor by signing a delivery agreement to build the bridge and carry out associated works, subject to the project being deliverable within the funding available and compliant with the Council’s normal procurement procedures; and

5.      Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Communities & People) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, the Head of Law and Governance, the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer and the Head of Corporate Property to enter into a legally binding agreement(s) with OxWED to enable the bridge to be constructed from its land and over land to the rear of the ice rink and to undertake enabling works if appropriate to facilitate the delivery of the bridge.