12/07/2010

Building Consortium South West member Pearce Construction from Barnstaple has been appointed by Devon County Council through competitive tendering, for the development of Cullompton's new library and community building.

Plans for the development are to be considered by the Council's independent Development Control Committee in September, and follow months of consultation with a broad cross section of the local community.

If the plans are approved, demolition of the former health centre on Exeter Hill in Cullompton would begin this autumn with construction leading to an official opening of the facility in summer 2011.

Pearce Construction won the contract as a member of the Building Consortium South West which also includes E. R. Hemmings (Building) Ltd, R. J. Leighfield and C. S. Williams.

Under the terms of agreement, Pearce will begin working with the Council at an early stage to assist with final design, which is helping the Council to minimise costs.

The £3 million flagship facility will provide a library approximately four times the size of the town's current library. There will be a wide-ranging selection of books, CDs and DVDs and free computers with high speed broadband . The space is being designed to be as flexible as possible to allow it to be used for a variety of activities.

Self service kiosks will free up staff time, to enable them to spend more time helping visitors directly.

There will also be a café, rooms and meeting spaces providing audio and video conferencing facilities all designed for a variety of community activities for local people, businesses, groups and adult learning classes.

Councillor Stuart Barker, the Council's Cabinet Member responsible for the Library Service, said:

"The appointment of a contractor brings the delivery of this new facility a step closer. It will provide a 21st century library, and services for local businesses to give good access to broadband, which is badly needed in this area. It will also boost the local economy by providing facilities such as audio and video conferencing.

"In addition to the library the new Centre will provide adult learning opportunities for local people and businesses, as well as formal and informal learning and meeting spaces for other Council community services as well as general public use."

Richard Bevan, Construction Director for the Consortium, said:

“We are delighted to have been awarded the Cullompton Library contract and are pleased to now be working on our first project within the framework. As the only consortium of SME’s on the framework we are keen to prove BCSW can deliver.”

The construction framework, now running for over nine months, is anticipated to provide substantial savings to public bodies across the region during its 4 year programme.

Thirty three projects have been issued through the first stages of the framework's procurement process, valuing in excess of £175 million.

As well as the new facility in Cullompton, building projects put through the framework include primary and secondary schools, Police buildings, social housing, and a number of health, leisure and other community use facilities.

Eighteen public bodies are signed up to using the framework.

Devon County Council led the framework development with financial support from the South West Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. It is based on a similar construction framework for the south east of England, which reported savings for public sector authorities in the region of £7.5 million for the first two years of running.