SC18035 Arboriculture - Tree Works

he service is for highway tree works term maintenance, provided primarily through programmed and ad-hoc work with in-built flexibility for emergency call-out provision. The council wishes to speak to the market to gain their insights and experience in this field.

The contract is currently let under two lots and awarded to one provider. Consideration is being given to letting the next contract under one to three lots and potentially limiting the next contract to one lot per provider.

Options • County wide coverage all 12 Kent County Council local authority areas. • 2 Lots (East Lot: Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, Swale and Thanet), (West Lot: Dartford, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells) • 3 Lots (East Lot: Ashford, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe and Thanet), (Mid Lot: Canterbury, Maidstone, Swale and Tonbridge & Malling), (West Lot: Dartford, Gravesham, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells) Suppliers will have the opportunity to attend a market engagement event at Ashford/Aylesford highway depots week commencing 15th October 2018. This will provide an opportunity for suppliers to gain an insight into the required services, raise specific questions in relation to the service and provide feedback on the proposed approach to the duration and lotting of the service.

Interested parties are requested to confirm their attendance at the market engagement via the Kent Business Portal. Attendance is restricted to 2 attendees per organisation.

Depending on the level and type of supplier interest it may be necessary to split the market engagement meetings by supplier size/type and spread these meetings over several days. The contract will primarily service KCC HT&W owned assets.

There may also be the need to carry out works on privately owned trees to ensure highway safety. This type of work has the potential to be re-charged through existing KCC processes.

There may be future interest from district and parish councils within Kent as well as other sections of the county council that may wish to gain access to this contract. The level of interest is unquantified at this point in time.

Any future approaches should be considered as and when they arise. The contract will be structured so as not to limit any such flexibility.