Appointment of Development Partner/Promoter for Wisloe Residential and Community Regeneration

Gloucestershire County Council (the "Council") is working with The Ernest Cook Trust and is looking to procure a strategic development partner or promoter in order to deliver a vibrant and sustainable new community in Wisloe, Slimbridge (based within the boundary of Stroud District Council ("SDC")) through the construction of circa 1,500 new homes along with 5 hectares of employment land, retail, community uses (including a primary school) and open space.

The land, owned by the Council and The Ernest Cook Trust, is allocated within SDC's draft Local Plan (submitted October 2021) for a new residential development. It is ideally placed for the development of a distinctive rural community that addresses the need for new and affordable homes in the Stroud district. The Council and The Ernest Cook Trust has self-funded the project this far and currently the planned development is currently with the Planning Inspectorate for their consideration (Examination in Public ("EiP")).

The Council and The Ernest Cook Trust intend to enter into a long term development/promoter agreement with a partner(s) that shares the Council’s vision and commitment to meet the benchmarks for design and build quality set by SDC's allocation requirements and Local Plan.

The Council plans to procure a development partner/promoter that is looking to invest and work in partnership with the Council and The Ernest Cook Trust over an initial term of 10 years, with the option to extend for a further 10 years, to promote economic and housing growth. The maximum term of the agreement would therefore be 20 years.

The Council is seeking expressions of interest from suitably experienced development partner(s) and promoter(s). Both the Council and The Ernest Cook Trust are keen to explore all options of innovative property delivery models. Further details of the scope of the intended procurement are available at section II.2.4.

The estimated contract excluding VAT may range between £1m to £400m (indicative).