A 3D render of the Shell Cove sports field, which is moving ahead despite all tenders being rejected. Photo: Shellharbour City Council.
Plans for the long‑awaited Shell Cove sports field are moving forward, despite Shellharbour City Council rejecting all 12 tenders received for its construction after bids came in over budget.
At its latest meeting, councillors backed a new approach that will see direct negotiations with contractors for each element of the project to help keep costs down and timelines on track.
Originally identified as a need in 2005, the sports field will be located at 200 Harbour Boulevard and play host to AFL and cricket.
Councillor Kellie Marsh said she didn’t want the community to worry about plans for the oval after the tenders were rejected.
“I just want to send a clear message to community that council and councillors are 100 per cent committed to delivering the Shell Cove sports field,” Cr Marsh said.
“Unfortunately, we have to reject all tenders and have staff enter into negotiations with potential contractors, which I think will deliver a better outcome at the end of the day.”
Councillor Mitch Ellis said he agreed with separating early works from the main works, allowing council to engage in specialist contractors for each package and component of the tender.
“They can provide improved value and risk allocation, given the differing technical requirements associated with the civil works and the construction of sports field amenities buildings,” Cr Ellis said.
He said it would further provide a cost saving on the project.
“Obviously, if you’ve got one main contractor doing the whole lot, they’re just going to potentially sub out other parts to it, which will just cost us more in the long run,” he said.
“So it makes sense to separate it, which potentially can drop the cost overall.”
Council staff said there were benefits to pursuing the project in this manner.
“By negotiating directly, it allows us to basically expedite the tender process,” the staff member said.
“If we were to go back through an open tender process, it would draw out the tender period itself, which would impact our ability to meet our grant milestones.
“In addition to that … by splitting the packages that allows us to directly negotiate with specific experts on those particular types of construction methodologies.
“So, for vertical construction for amenities buildings, and for, say, civil construction for your sports field surface. So we’ll get that more specialised and more bespoke costing for those particular elements.”
The motion was unanimously passed. Upon completion of the negotiation and awarding of contracts, an update on the project and the anticipated start date will be provided to councillors.
Around the city’s 50 other sports fields, council crews are beginning the annual seasonal changeover, transforming cricket grounds into competition-ready fields for rugby league, AFL, football, netball and dog agility.
Works include turfing over four synthetic cricket wickets, installing goalposts at 12 sportsfields and completing extensive turf preparation such as mowing, soil works, surface recovery, drainage and irrigation works.
