Bure Valley Path Resurfacing and Infrastructure

Tender description

Norfolk County Council are working in partnership with Broadland District Council to deliver a series of surfacing and infrastructure improvements along the Bure Valley Path between Aylsham and Wroxham. This scheme will be funded via Interreg (France Channel England) and delivered through EXPERIENCE . Lot 1: EXPERIENCE is an ambitious, €23.3 million 3-year project led by NCC which aims to deliver innovative and sustainable growth via a new tourism strategy. The project will extend the tourism season by attracting off-season visitors (October to March) and will be delivered across six pilot regions in the UK and France; Norfolk, Kent, Cornwall, Brittany, Pas-de-Calais, and Compiègne. The project focuses on supporting and promoting experiential travel, which is a growing tourism trend. Modern travellers are looking for unusual, interactive experiences and authentic insight into daily life different to their own. Our region is brimming with culture, wildlife, unique natural and built heritage, tradition, history and gastronomy which form an ideal basis for the development of world-class experiential tourism products. New tourism products will feel genuine, unique and immersive to attract visitors in the off-season. EXPERIENCE will generate more than 20 million new visitors across the six pilot regions by the end of the project, creating lasting and sustainable economic, environmental and social benefit by increasing the skilled workforce, year-round income and jobs, business stability and using local products and suppliersThe project works will include;• Resurfacing sections at Aylsham, Buxton, Coltishall and Hoveton & Wroxham (totalling approx. 3km)• Installation of pedestrian and field gates • Installation of cycle racks• Installation of mile markers • Installation of benches• Installation of interpretation boards• Replanting and biodiversity enhancementsThe Bure Valley Path runs parallel to the Bure Valley Railway (BVR) and as such there will be conditions and constraints with construction next to the railway. A certified PICOW may be required on site at specific sections and contractors will require full Public Liability for working on Railways in the UK on sections that require crossing over the railway line.Tender will be live from September 2021 with appointment of contractor(s) by November 2021 with construction to start winter 2021 and completion by March 2022.The improvements will revitalise the railway heritage along the path as well as creating a stable, level, free draining surface that is accessible in all seasons for walkers (including access impaired users) and cyclists.