Contractor appointed on leisure, enterprise and education facility

Construction and property developer BAM has been appointed to develop and build the new leisure, enterprise and education facility Five Acres on behalf of Forest of Dean District Council.

The project at Five Acres will be completed in phases, with the initial phase focusing on dryside sport and leisure facilities through the re-purposing of the Speedwell building, building a new multi-purpose four court sports hall/performance space, party rooms/dressing rooms and separate changing rooms – all with car parking, including electric vehicle charging points.

Cabinet member for Levelling Up, Cllr Johnathan Lane said: “Since taking control of the site in early 2022, the council has been hard at work ensuring that the initial demolition of buildings on the site, as well as the design and planning of the new facility, were completed on time and with the engagement of the local community, organisations and sports clubs.

“We’re now really excited to move on to the next stage of the project, appointing BAM to bring the design and build to fruition and to deliver the quality facilities needed by people in the local community.”

Justin Price, construction director at BAM, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be chosen as the contractor for the design and build of the new facilities at Five Acres.

“We are aware of how much Five Acres means to the residents of the Forest of Dean and we’ll be holding several engagement events in the coming months so that we can discuss the plans for the build in detail with people from across the district.

“At BAM we are committed to working with local businesses wherever possible and we can’t wait to work with partners and the community to develop these incredible facilities for the residents of the Forest of Dean.”

Forest of Dean District Council, design consultants Pick Everard and build contractors BAM will work together with residents to establish the final design plans for Five Acres before a planning application is submitted and construction can begin.