Decision details

The project is for Construction of a Waste Management Centre to the northeast of Blandford Forum, Dorset, to provide a Household Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station with access off the A350.  The current WTS in Blandford is an adapted grain store which forms part of a combined site adjacent to the HRC. The site is small and is in poor condition offering little scope for improvements in processing efficiency and landfill disposal diversion. The Blandford Waste Management Centre is being project managed by Assets and Property on behalf of Dorset Council’s waste services.

The need for a replacement WMC in the Blandford area was identified by Dorset Council’s Waste Services (formally the Dorset Waste Partnership) and several sites were put forward for consideration as part of the Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Dorset Waste Plan 2019. 

Cabinet – 28 January 2025

Tender & Procure approval – Decision

1. That Cabinet approve the award of a contract to construct and develop a new waste management centre at Blandford, using Dorset Highways Works Term Service Contract within the approved capital funding.

2. That Authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Place Services and the Section 151 Officer to agree the contract terms.

To approve the appointment Heidelberg Materials as the main contractor for the construction of a new Blandford Waste Management Centre.

·       For Phase 1 Highways Works element only

Phase 2 Main Works to follow once pricing exercise has been completed.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

Option 1 – To award the main refurbishment contract for Blandford Waste Management Centre to an alternative contractor. 

Contracting via the existing Dorset Highways Works Term Service Contract (DHWTSC) with fee charges as established under this Contract. Heidelberg Materials (Formally Hanson Construction) has had informal early contractor engagement on this project since mid-2020 to allow for input into design and value engineering.

‘Construction of Waste Management Sites’ is detailed as part of the of the Dorset Highways Works Term Service Contract scope.

Option 2 – To not award the design and build contract for Blandford Waste Management Centre to Heidelberg Materials.

The Heidelberg Materials tender return has been considered by officers and Currie and Brown to be the most economically advantageous tender return and provided the best value for money for the council.  The tender return was within the project budget.

To go out to general market would take additional time and could be damaging to the Highways Business Partner relationship.

Option 3 – To not proceed with the for Blandford Waste Management Project project

This option would result in the council not taking forward a project that forms an essential provision of waste management infrastructure for the future.

The new facility will replace the current waste management facility in Blandford which is inadequate for needs of the service and is on a short-term lease arrangement. The current site is the waste service’s busiest site in Dorset, in terms of the volume of material passing through the transfer buildings, yet the least efficient and most at risk of service failure which would severely impact the kerbside waste collections. Poor access enforced tipping windows (time slots), a lack of drainage, no fire suppression, disruption to neighbouring businesses, impacts on waste collection operations, all results in an inefficient service. At present the collection service has to divert some waste to Sherborne due to the limited variability at Blandford.