SC22244 - White Horse Wood Country Park Natural Burial Site

Tender description

White Horse Wood Country Park, located at the top of Detling Hill, is a 65 acre site incorporating maturing woodland, planted in 2000/2001, open spaces and the ruins of Thurnham Castle. The site is located in the Kent Downs AONB and contains Thurnham Castle which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and remnants of an iron age fort. The site has the potential to operate as a natural burial site as well as a country park. The Council would like to engage with interested parties who would be interested in taking forward the full development of the site, with a particular focus on the following elements; • Development of dual operation of White Horse Woods as a public country park for recreation and leisure as well as a natural burial site for both body burial and ash interment. • Sustainable management of the country park post commercial burial activity. Lot 1: Market engagement: As part of this process, the Council wishes to engage with the market to gain their insights and experience in this field. We intend to conduct some market engagement meetings during November 2022. We will send invites to these meetings based on responses to the attached questionnaire. Please express an interest in this opportunity, and then provide your response to the Market Engagement Questionnaire via the Messages facility on the Kent Business Portal. The Council will use this engagement to inform interested suppliers of our progress and may also ask for feedback on potential proposals as they develop. Organisations who do not express an interest in response to this PIN will not be precluded from applying to take part in the Council's chosen procurement strategy and conclusion of our engagement findings will be shared with the published call or calls for competition. Forms for completion: Please find attached a Market Engagement Questionnaire designed to gather information relating to this tender, which will be used to inform KCC’s strategy for commissioning these services. Please complete and return via the Messages function on the Kent Business Portal no later than 12:00 noon on 11th November.