Goulburn Mulwaree Council awards tender for Cookbundoon pavilion

But more importantly, soccer players will have access to more comfortable amenities, including a change room for females.

Councillors on Tuesday awarded a $1,008,672 tender for design and construction of a new pavilion at the Bradfordville fields to local firm, ARW Multigroup.

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It overturned a staff recommendation to award the tender to the Albury-based Joss Group for $851,886. A report to councillors stated that following evaluation, ARW was ranked first on a value for money basis, followed by Joss Group and six other tenderers.

"As ARW Multigroup and Joss Group had almost equivalent value for money scoring, Joss Group is recommended as the preferred company given their price is the lowest submitted," the report stated.

Price formed 60 per cent of the criteria, while non-price factors like experience and capability accounted for 40 per cent.

But Deputy Mayor Peter Walker successfully moved that further discussion occur in closed session, given the commercial information. He told the meeting he had several questions.

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On conclusion, the local firm won the day.

In a statement on Wednesday, a council spokesman said ARW was judged "the highest value for money."

The firm also built the Ken Robson cricket pavilion at Seiffert Oval.

The new Cookbundoon pavilion and amenities will partly draw on that design with an undercover veranda.

The structure, to be named the Ray Harvey pavilion, will also include six change rooms, a function room, canteen, officials change rooms, public amenities, storeroom and office.

"Soccer has perhaps the largest player base of all sports in our region, and this upgrade to provide essential facilities such as change rooms for our female players is overdue," Mayor Bob Kirk said in a statement.

"We are extremely proud to be delivering it now at Cookbundoon, and I look forward to seeing it open and being utilised soon."

Construction is expected to take six months and must be completed by June, 2021 under the terms of the federal government's Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program.

That fund is contributing $572,884 to the project and council - the remainder. The total budget is $1,072,884. Council general manager Warwick Bennett was authorised to approve variations of up to $45,814 and any unspent money will carry over to 2021.

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Southern Tablelands Football Association representative Craig Norris previously told The Post the pavilion was very much needed and would also allow spectators to get out of the wind and rain.

The STFA had been trying to secure funding for several years for the project. It predicts the number of players in Goulburn Mulwaree will grow by 1800 over the next 20 years.

The council managed to score funding in July, tapping into the Infrastructure Program, which was designed to stimulate local economies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

One of its requirements is to use local business and workforce where possible to deliver projects.

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Hume MP Angus Taylor said he was pleased a tender had been awarded.

"I know there are many local soccer players in Goulburn keen to see the project get underway. The new amenities building will also attract more soccer teams from across this region, bringing economic and social benefits," he said.

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