Council approves single, council-managed project to deliver Men'shed containers and car-park works in two phases

Wilton Town Council on March 10 voted to manage the Men'shed and Castle Meadow car-park projects as a single, council-managed programme in two phases.

Phase 1 will cover the Men'shed's storage-container works and related groundworks; phase 2 will cover the car-park surfacing and related infrastructure (lighting, drainage). The council discussed legal and health-and-safety oversight, insurance implications, flood risk for the Meadow area and sequencing to avoid moving heavy machinery across recently-worked surfaces.

Councillors agreed that the council would retain overall procurement and oversight responsibility, review lease quotations for Men'shed storage and appoint two councillors as project representatives. The motion explicitly allowed use of multiple specialist contractors for different elements (e.g., drainage, surfacing, electrical works) rather than a single contractor for all phases, and called for appropriate CDM and insurance protections.

Councillors also noted that one container in the compound is allocated for council use, another for sports clubs and proposed new containers would support the Men'shed and community storage needs. The council asked officers to consult the Environment Agency and include flood-mitigation needs in tender specifications to ensure surface-water management is addressed in the design and procurement.

Next steps: prepare project documentation, review lease quotes, appoint two councillors to lead the project, and return to council with procurement recommendations and contractor quotes for both phases.