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Pollution Mitigation, Evidence and Design, Hobson's Brook and Coldham's Common

Cambridge City Council

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

10 Sep 2026 at 10:00

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

08 Jul 2026 at 16:38

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

19 Jun 2026 at 09:06

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Cambridge City Council commissioned specialist environmental consultancy services for pollution mitigation evidence, modelling and design at Hobson’s Brook and Coldham’s Common, as part of the Cambridge City chalk stream restoration programme. The work covers urban runoff and diffuse pollution, including nutrients, sediment, hydrocarbons, metals and salts. It involves integrating water-quality, biological, habitat, sediment and geomorphological evidence; calculating pollutant loads; and developing practical nature-based treatment systems such as forebays, wetland cells, infiltration swales, polishing stages and ponds. The supplier is expected to support treatment-train sizing, hydraulic and pollutant-removal modelling, consents, approvals, construction-ready plans, delivery sequencing and performance monitoring. The work is centred in Cambridge and supports collaboration with the Council, academic partners, contractors and other project participants.

This procurement has been awarded following a below-threshold open competition. Two bids were received and evaluated on 70% quality and 30% price. Rivers Ecology Limited was selected on 3 September 2026 for a gross awarded value of £118,500. The award covers one lot and has a contract period from 1 October 2026 to 30 April 2027; the wider lot period runs from 18 August 2026 to 17 March 2029. Cambridge City Council is the buying organisation. The tender was for services, with a maximum allocation of £100,000 excluding VAT stated in the tender description. The lot was marked as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community or social enterprises. A contract signature milestone was scheduled for 17 September 2026.

For a future supplier, this award demonstrates demand from Cambridge City Council for specialist chalk-stream restoration and urban pollution mitigation expertise. A credible competitor would need to turn complex monitoring and field evidence into defensible, delivery-ready designs, rather than provide general environmental advice alone. Relevant capability includes water-quality assessment, pollutant-load and event-based modelling, hydraulic analysis, treatment-train sizing and prediction of pollutant removal for wetlands, swales, ponds and related nature-based systems. Experience should also cover sediment, nutrients, hydrocarbons, metals, biological indicators and habitat evidence, with the ability to explain risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Strong suppliers would be able to support environmental consents, construction planning, sequencing and post-delivery monitoring, while working effectively with local authorities, universities, contractors and multidisciplinary restoration teams.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Pollution Mitigation, Evidence and Design, Hobson's Brook and Coldham's Common

Notice Description

Cambridge City Council invites tenders from suitably qualified organisations to provide pollution mitigation evidence integration, modelling and design support for the Hobson's Brook and Coldham's Common components of the Cambridge City chalk stream restoration programme. The commission will support the design of nature-based urban pollution mitigation systems, including forebays, wetland cells, swales, polishing stages and associated hydraulic and pollutant removal modelling. The maximum available contract allocation is PS100,000 excluding VAT.

Planning Information

Cambridge City Council invites expressions of interest from suitably qualified organisations to provide pollution mitigation evidence integration, modelling and design support for the Hobson's Brook and Coldham's Common components of the Cambridge City chalk stream restoration programme. At this stage, the Council is just undertaking a preliminary market engagement exercise. Interested parties are not required to submit detailed proposals; instead, suppliers are simply invited to register their interest via this portal: https://procontract.due-north.com/Home/About. You may, however, choose to submit a brief summary of relevant previous experience or an outline of your suitability as a supplier for this project. The request for quote (RfQ) will follow shortly after and further details will be provided. The commission will support the design of nature-based urban pollution mitigation systems, including forebays, wetland cells, swales, polishing stages and associated hydraulic and pollutant removal modelling. Project Context and Evidence Base The Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project has developed a substantial evidence base for urban chalk stream restoration and pollution mitigation. The Hobson's Brook Urban Chalk Stream Resilience Project identifies chronic urban runoff and diffuse pollution entering Hobson's Brook, including runoff conveyed by the North Ditch from the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The project documentation identifies nutrients, sediments, hydrocarbons and salts as pollutants of concern and proposes treatment through a sequence of wetlands, infiltration swales and polishing ponds. For Coldham's Common, the East Cambridge Main Drain and Coldham's Brook evidence base includes water quality snapshot sampling, mapping of the East Cambridge Main Drain and Coldham's Brook, and emerging nature-based solution proposals for wetlands and wider habitat restoration. Evidence includes field and laboratory measurements for dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, phosphate, ammonia, nitrate and faecal coliforms. The wider project evidence base includes weekly water quality monitoring, laboratory nutrient analysis, high-resolution continuous data loggers, targeted snapshot surveys for heavy metals, hydrocarbons and other urban pollutant signatures, WHPT macroinvertebrate results, MTR macrophyte surveys, sediment research, geomorphological interpretation and restoration delivery records. Purpose of the Commission The purpose of this commission is to provide a specialist lead role for pollution mitigation evidence and design for Hobson's Brook and Coldham's Common. The commission must convert the available evidence into practical, defensible and measurable nature-based pollution mitigation designs capable of informing construction planning, consents, delivery sequencing and future performance validation. The required outputs must support Cambridge City Council in moving from evidence and concept to delivery-ready technical design. The appointed supplier must provide a clear evidence trail from monitoring data and pollutant load analysis through to treatment train sizing, design assumptions, hydraulic performance, pollutant removal expectations, risks, uncertainties and monitoring validation requirements. Strategic Role • Provide specialist pollution mitigation leadership for Hobson's Brook and Coldham's Common. • Integrate water quality, urban runoff, sediment, biological and habitat evidence into the design process. • Develop pollutant load calculations and event-based design assumptions. • Design or support the design of nature-based treatment systems for nutrients, fine sediment, metals, hydrocarbons and mixed urban runoff pressures. • Support treatment train sizing, hydraulic performance and pollutant removal modelling. • Provide technical input into consents, approvals, construction-ready plans and design validation. • Work collaboratively with Cambridge City Council, ARU, Keele, contractors and other project partners. • Support a monitoring and validation framework so that performance can be measured after delivery.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b89c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085683-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - open competition
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

90 - Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services

CPV Codes

90700000 - Environmental services

90713000 - Environmental issues consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£100,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
£100,000 £100K-£500K
Awards Value
£118,500 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
29 Jul 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
6 Jul 2026Expired
Award Date
3 Sep 20261 months ago
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Apr 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Cambridge City Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
CAMBRIDGE
Postcode
CB2 1BY
Postcode Area
Cambridge
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH4 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH42 Cambridgeshire CC
Delivery Location
TLH12 Cambridgeshire CC
Local Authority
Cambridge
Electoral Ward
Market
Westminster Constituency
Cambridge

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Rivers Ecology Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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