Feasibility Study, Technical Assessment and Options Appraisal for Community Purchase or Lease of Blairingone Primary School and Associated Cottage
Blairingone School CAT – Next Steps
The current Blairingone School survey open until the end of April will help identify potential future uses of the school.
The FCDT working group, led by Marion Anness, is now in the process of seeking funding to carry out a feasibility study on the future use of the Blairingone School.
The study will include the cost of renovation and business plan with possible future income. This will enable FCDT to make an informed decision on the CAT of the school.
The next step of the process is to post a call for tender for organisations to carry out this work. If you are interested please submit a quote before the 3rd May 2024.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact FCDT at info@fossowaytrust.com
Tender and selection process
Fossoway Community Development Trust would like to invite tenders from suitably qualified consultants to conduct a feasibility study, structural and condition survey and options appraisal on the potential community acquisition or lease of the Blairingone Primary School and associated Cottage.
The consultant should be able to demonstrate experience in community engagement, business planning and community acquisitions. Your tender should include a detailed scheme of work matching the timescale set out below. In quoting for the work, we require that you supply an overall price and subsidiary quotes for a structural survey. Sub-contractors should be identified prior to submitting the tender document and their costs and availability to meet the timescale detailed in the submission. Tenders will be scored on the headings: experience of community acquisitions; clarity of planning (including hours to be devoted to each element of the task); knowledge of community engagement; and ability to meet timescale. In line with the principle of Community Wealth Building there will be additional consideration for consultants and sub-contractors from Perth and Kinross. Our aim is to choose successful consultant within one week the closing date. We will only move to conduct telephone interviews in the event we are unable to separate two candidates.
Overview Fossoway District
Fossoway is located in the southern part of the county of Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The rural community of Fossoway brings together villages, farmland, and the River Devon. Our vision is to support and improve the quality of life for everyone in the community, for it to thrive and grow in a sustainable way and being respectful of our rural environment. We will achieve this by promoting, supporting, and helping to deliver local community projects, collaborating with the Community Council and other local groups.
The Fossoway Community Development Trust will raise funds for agreed projects and will manage them until fruition. On completion, the projects will be self-sufficient; if they are able to generate a profit this will help create community wealth that can contribute to future projects.
The Blairingone Primary School was formally closed in June of 2019 and the FCDT is in discussions with the local authority to either acquire or lease the building. In order to make an informed decision the Trust wishes to conduct a feasibility study on the costs of bringing the building up to suitable standards and the potential income and profit from using the facility for the benefit of the community with a focus on improving health and wellbeing.
Project – Feasibility of Community Asset Transfer of Blairingone School and Cottage
Scope of Work
The consultant will be tasked with:
- examining alternative uses of the buildings with a particular focus on enhancing health and wellbeing of the Fossoway Community. The Trust will be surveying the Community on their preferred use of the buildings and the outcome of this should drive the potential alternative uses.
- feasibility of attracting an income from the alternative uses and a view on sustainability and time to profitability should be included.
- assessing appropriateness for installing electric vehicle charging points;
- engaging a structural engineer to report on the condition of the building, and any works needed to keep it in a state of repair to support any alternative use;
- desk-based research on similar community enterprises in Scotland;
- presenting interim findings at a community event where members of the public will be able to feedback on options for future use of the site; and,
- presenting a final report containing a costed options appraisal based on outcomes of the tasks listed above.
Outputs
The consultant will present a final report containing the results of the structural and technical studies, an appraisal of the alternative uses of the building and a summary of feedback gathered from the community.
- Timescale Submission of tender documents – Friday 3rd May 2024
- Successful consultant confirmed by FCDT – Monday 13th May 2024
- Project timeline – June – September 2024 subject to successful award of funding
- Final report submitted to FCDT – end September 2024
- Fee Up to £18k total (including fees for separate studies)
Further Information can be obtained by emailing info@fossowaytrust.com