Active Communities - Aviemore North and Boat of Garten (Cairngorms 2030)

The Cairngorms National Park Authority (the “Park Authority”) as client is inviting bids from design consultants to act as Principal Designer under CDM 2015 for Active Communities, currently covering Aviemore North and Boat of Garten, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of Cairngorms 2030 and by Transport Scotland via the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund. Cairngorms 2030 is a broad, multi-themed programme arising as part of the Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan.

The project scope is to complete RIBA Stage 3: Developed design and Stage 4: Technical design to the joint requirements of the Park Authority and The Highland Council. The bidder should note the ambition to construct by 2027/28.

Stage 3 Developed design and Stage 4 Technical design will be delivered consecutively following a logical critical path, with several activities presented as “live” documents carried between stages. Within the programme, the consultant should allow ample time for client, stakeholder, and funder feedback to be compiled, reviewed, and amendments made as necessary.

Some documents will benefit from a collaborative approach between the client and principal designer to ensure external funding requirements are met. The principal designer should propose a suitable means of sharing collaborative documents, such as a cloud-based sharing platform.

Aviemore is the largest community in the Cairngorms National Park with a population of nearly 4000. It is a remote small town per the Scottish Government Urban-Rural classification and is rural in character.

It attracts over a million visitors a year. It is the main public transport hub for Badenoch & Strathspey with a Highland mainline railway station, large bus depot, and inter-city bus link.

Many visitors arrive by car or campervan leading to congestion particularly in summer. It is therefore a strategic priority to get people travelling actively, which led to the inception of the Active Aviemore project.

A Stage 1 Feasibility study undertaken in 2018 identified potential non-motorised transport provisions. The feasibility study identified several potential projects for which Stage 2: Concept design was then completed in 2022-23.

Stage 2: Concept design took a strongly participatory approach with the local community and defines sub-sections for design progression. Commonplace was used as a platform for engagement as part of Cairngorms 2030, with all projects hosted at Have Your Say Today - Cairngorms 2030 - Commonplace.

This ITT concerns one of the sub-sections, known as Aviemore North. The contract will cover Stage 3 Developed design and Stage 4 Technical design in accordance with the RIBA plan of work.

The Stage 2 designs for Active Aviemore North comprise approx. 1740m of segregated cycle route, pavement improvements and traffic calming interventions along Grampian Road and Dalfaber Drive, connecting residential areas to the town core. The project area extends to Santa Claus Drive at the roundabout to the south, where the principal designer will consider the tie-in to the roundabout.

To the north, the project extends to Dougal Drive, and to Craggan More Road at the north-eastern extent. Construction costs are estimated in the region of GBP 13.5m exc.

VAT., with a requirement for this cost to be reviewed and updated as part of this contract. In 2021, as part of the development phase of Cairngorms 2030, five communities in the Badenoch and Strathspey area were selected to be subjects of a combined Stage 1: Feasibility study and Stage 2: Concept design funded by Sustrans; Dulnain Bridge, Carrbridge, Boat of Garten, Nethy Bridge and Newtonmore.

Following a deliverability assessment, the community of Boat of Garten has been grouped with Aviemore North for delivery of Stage 3: Developed Design and Stage 4: Technical Design as part of this single Invitation to Tender. Stage 1: Feasibility study involved engaging the community to map issues with the existing infrastructure and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Community feedback related primarily to walking and wheeling, and as a result, no cycling-specific infrastructure is proposed. Stage 2: Concept designs comprise a package of small-scale interventions including footway extensions, unsignalised and side road crossings and other traffic calming measures.

There is an opportunity to explore additional placemaking. Construction costs are estimated in the region of GBP 300-350k, with a requirement for this to be updated.

Concurrently to Stage 2: Concept design, as a separate project, The Highland Council have been trialling 20mph limits in villages, including Boat of Garten. Consultation is currently underway to determine where limits will be retained or removed.

Some elements of designs may need to work in conjunction with 20mph limits. Projects in other communities may be offered as part of a contract extension, which is detailed further in Section 20 of the ITT.