OIC to begin search for tenders for new 40,000-tonne stone order

Orkney Islands Council (OIC) is set to begin a tendering process for a contract worth close to an estimated £1.3million to supply Cursiter Quarry with a further 40,000 tonnes of stone.

The 80,000-tonne order of stone to the council-owned quarry from Glensanda Quarry near Oban will still go ahead — the first shipment of which was expected to arrive this week.

The notice for the new additional stone, published in this week’s The Orcadian, invites tenders, including local quarries, to bid for the contract to supply a further 40,000 tonnes of aggregate over an 18-month period.

The tender process is to begin on April 8, while the anticipated start date for the contract — which includes the option for two 12-month extension periods — is June 14, 2021.

The estimated contract value including the potential for the two non-committal extension periods is £1.29million

An OIC spokeswoman said: “Orkney Islands Council is seeking expressions of interest for a supplemental supply of quarry stone for Cursiter Quarry ahead of the formal tendering process.

“A ‘prior information notice’ advert for the supply and delivery of quarry stone has been placed in this week’s The Orcadian outlining the forthcoming tendering process.

“A continued supply of aggregate, including for roadworks, to meet the industry minimum standards is required to secure continuity of supply at Cursiter Quarry.

“Expressions of interest are invited through the notice advertised via the Public Contracts Scotland portal as an initial step in this forthcoming contract opportunity procurement process.

“Thereafter invitation to tender documentation will be available and offer local quarries the opportunity to supply to the required specification.”

Further information and an opportunity for contractors to note their interest is available via the Public Contracts Scotland website.

According to the notice, the materials, upon arrival at Cursiter Quarry, will be “blended”, where necessary, with the remaining aggregate available at Cursiter Quarry “until such a time as a long-term reserve” is secured.

The quarry currently supplies around 100,000 tonnes of aggregate per year to both public and private construction projects.

OIC is anticipating that “more than one supplier will be appointed” to the contract, meaning that the stone order may be sourced from different locations.

This is just the latest twist in a saga in which OIC has come under heavy fire for its decision to place the 80,000-tonne order with Glensanda Quarry — without consulting with local quarries first to determine their capability in supplying the stone.

Questions also remain over the tendering and procurement process and whether they were conducted in line with strict public contract regulations.

Last year, OIC’s planning committee rejected the authority’s application to extend Cursiter Quarry.

All the elected councillors that sit on the planning committee bar one ruled that the sheer scale of the proposals mooted were unjustifiable.

In a bid to overturn this decision, the authority made an appeal to the Scottish Government. That appeal has been held up due to COVID-19 restrictions and remains within the appeals system.

With reserves now running low at Cursiter, OIC is now urgently attempting to maintain supply hence the 80,000-tonne order, and now, this new order.

Meanwhile, an internal OIC investigation is currently taking place to understand the methods in which the Glensanda stone was procured, with its findings set to be heard at the next meeting of the council’s monitoring and audit committee.