Gatwick Airport has revealed an extra £241m in investment plans to spread the benefit of a second runway to local communities.

The plans include:

• £46.5m to help local authorities deliver essential community infrastructure;
• £3.75m to help create 2,500 new apprenticeships for local people;
• A series of noise initiatives, including £45m for Gatwick’s unique council tax initiative and £5m for noise insulation measures;
• Improvements to local transport links and a commitment to ensure local roads are no busier than they are today, with a £10m local highway development fund in place to meet any additional works;
• For the small number of homes that would need to be compulsorily purchased, a £131m Property Support Bond will offer homeowners 25% above market value;

The plans follow a public consultation held in April and May with local residents.

Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said,

“A second runway would create a £90billion boost to the UK. We are determined to be a good neighbour and not lose sight of the concerns of those communities close to home. We’ve listened to local people and have created a wide range of pledges to deliver improvements in many of the areas that matter to them most, from new jobs and housing, to business support and noise mitigation.”

The Welsh Government has started the pre-qualification process for the £800m M4 corridor extension project.

Five firms are expected to be shortlisted for the job, which will start in Spring 2018 and finish in 2022. The project marks the largest capital investment programme in Wales since devolution.

The 14 mile motorway between junctions 23 and 29 will include a new crossing of the River Usk and will see the existing M4 motorway being re-classified as a trunk road.

The project was originally proposed in 1991 before being dropped by the Welsh Assembly in 2009 because of rising costs. Plans were resurrected in 2011, when a toll motorway was proposed before the Treasury indicated that it would support a public funded project last year.

Last week, Welsh Transport Ninister Edwina Hart granted the ‘black route’ portion for the stretch between Magor and Castleton, which is expected to cost around £1bn.

PQQ documents are available on the eTenderWales procurement portal, with project code: PQQ_3157 Project_26608

Do you want to pre-qualify for this project? The Propeller Bid Response team can help you. Contact us on 01462 440077 or via our online contact form.

The Government will inject a further £1.3bn into the housing market to develop affordable homes.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has earmarked £886m for 160 housing providers, while Mayor Boris Johnson is allocating £404 to 54 housing bodies.

The HCA has said that 43,821 new affordable homes will be delivered across 2,697 schemes by March 2018. Chief Executive Andy Rose said,

“The allocations announced today are closely aligned with locally identified priorities and offer value for money and increased certainty of delivery, with over 75% of the homes we are funding on firm schemes.”

Of the 54 housing bodies announced in Boris Johnson’s plans, Notting Hill Trusty won the largest allocation of money, with £53.9m to deliver 2,250 homes. Waltham Forest will receive £9.7m to deliver 387 homes, while Lambeth received £10.9m investment to build 303 homes.

The Greater London Authority is making an allocation to Grainger Trust for the first time – £5.6m to deliver 195 homes.

The mayor will take forward five bids for a portion of a further £85m to establish a revolving fund. It is hoped the fund would contribute towards up to 5,000 homes being built, over a longer period by ‘recycling’ investment.

New Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said,

“we have designed an ambitious new scheme to build affordable homes at the fastest rate for 20 years, which will support 165,000 jobs in construction and sustain thousands of small businesses.”

Six bidders will be shortlisted for a £55m food research centre project in Norwich.

Government procurement body UK Shared Business Services has issued an OJEU notice for the project, which will see the winning contractor working with an existing design team during a two stage design and build tender process for the Centre for Food and Health.

The 13,000m2 centre will include laboratory, office and accommodation space for 300 researchers, clinical space for 40,000 day-procedure endoscopy cases per year, and a clinical research facility for trials’ volunteers.

Expressions of interest are to be received by August 12 to UK Shared Business Services Ltd, For the attention of John Foy, ExpressionOfInterest@ccs.gsi.gov.uk

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust has issued an invitation for firms to prequalify to construct the new £353m Midland Metropolitan Hospital.

The hospital will be funded by both the public and private sector, through a Private Finance 2 deal.

Located on a derelict industrial estate in Smethwick, the eight-storey hospital will have 670 beds and provide capacity for 107,000 inpatients and 120,000 outpatients a year. The project is expected to start in 2016, and be completed by 2018-19.

A bidders’ day will take place on Monday 21 July – full details can be found in the PQQ, available from the NHS e-sourcing portal. Alternatively, contact Daphne Lewsley at the project office on 01215 075 566.

Do you want to pre-qualify for any of this project? The Propeller Bid Response team can help you. Contact us on 01462 440077 or via our online contact form.