Just over £6 million worth of work to create Waterfront Place adjacent to the V&A Dundee could start early in the New Year if councillors back the appointment of Morgan Sindall Construction and Infrastructure Limited.

Mark Flynn, deputy convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, said: “This is a very high profile and tangible piece of the waterfront development jigsaw that will be in place by spring of 2021.

“It will offer an interesting and innovative space right next to the estuary for the people of the city and visitors of all ages to use for leisure activities.

“This represents the next element of phased and planned development at the waterfront and I am confident that it will continue in the months and years ahead.”

The work, which is expected to take around 18 months to complete, comprises the construction of hard and soft landscaping areas, an urban beach, decorative water feature and a new active travel/low carbon hub building.

In September the council launched an open design competition looking for initial proposals to develop a unique space that brings art, technology and play together within Waterfront Place.

Open to all interested parties who met the minimum qualification requirements, seven tender submissions were received and early next year a further report is expected to be brought to the committee to approve the appointment of a contractor to develop their detailed design.

Meanwhile, homes and businesses in Broughty Ferry will have greater protection from future flooding if a new £15.5m scheme gets the go-ahead next week.

Councillors will be asked to approve the appointment of Wates Construction Limited to deliver the fourth phase of the Broughty Ferry Flood Protection Scheme.

Mark Flynn added: “It is crucial that we not only ensure effectiveness and value for money when delivering flood protection for our coastal communities but also that any scheme is attractive and in keeping with the buildings and streetscape around it.

“We recognise that flood protection works can be an emotive subject, so a considerable amount of preparation work has gone into finding the best solutions to make sure people and properties are protected, with the minimum loss of amenity.”

Preparatory work has included ground conditions and ground water levels investigations to help inform the design and construction of the final scheme and consultations with residents and businesses at each stage of the process.

The scheme is designed to reduce the risk of flooding to residential, open space, community and businesses within Broughty Ferry through works along Douglas Terrace, James Place, Fisher Street and Beach Crescent.

Selecting a contractor through the Scape Framework procurement route offered the council a number of advantages including competitive tender prices, using a contractor’s expertise from an early stage and maximising the local supply chain’s opportunity to be involved with local authority projects.

Using the framework, the specification and design of the Broughty Ferry Flood Protection Scheme was produced by McLaughlin & Harvey design consultants, who are Wates Construction Ltd’s sub-contractors in Scotland, and the council’s in-house structural and civil engineering teams. The tender price was built up using open book tendering for all work packages, with contractually fixed management fees, overheads and profit for the lead contractor.

A number of community benefits are built into the contract including commitments to use local suppliers and offer job opportunities to local people.

Work is expected to start early next year and take two years to complete.

The council’s city development committee will discuss both tenders on December 9.