Decision details

1.            That total expenditure of £725,000 required for the remaining three phases of repair works to the river bank at The Weirs, Winchester and as detailed in paragraph 2.2 be approved.

2.            That approval is delegated to the Corporate Head of Regulatory Services to carry out an open tender procurement process and to appoint a Contractor to carry out the repair works to the river bank at the Weirs Winchester.

3.            That it is agreed to vary Contract Procedure Rule 29.1 re Tender Evaluation which provides for a 60:40 ratio for cost and quality so that the quality requirement for this procurement is increased to 60% and cost reduced to 40%.

Repairs are required to the western bank of the River Itchen between Bridge Street and Wharf Mill, along the footpath known as The Weirs.  Existing wooden piles have rotted so that the river has scoured material from behind them, leaving the footpath unsupported in places due to the resulting voids beneath it.  An initial trial and the first phase of works, procured by HCC, have been completed, using new piles and injecting grout into the voids.  A further three phases are required to complete the job over the next three years.

As a riparian landowner (that is, an owner of land adjacent to a watercourse), Winchester City Council is responsible for maintaining the bank.  Hampshire County Council as highway authority has an interest as the surface of The Weirs is adopted highway.  The funding for the project to date has seen the majority fall to Winchester City Council as the adjoining landowner that is most at risk, with a £50,000 contribution per phase from Hampshire County Council (to be confirmed for last two phases).

To do nothing would mean that the issue of public safety and allowing damage to a public highway detailed in 11.4 of report CAB3170 would become inevitable.  This is not acceptable as the damage cannot be seen until a collapse occurs.  City Council-owned land adjacent to the unregistered land is also at risk.

Other potential landowners have been approached but there is no evidence that any other parties have a claim to the unregistered land, suggesting that financial contributions from parties other than the highway authority will be very unlikely.