Building Briefs – July 14th

Hillcrest Housing Association is to shortly begin work at their latest development in Dundee after awarding a contract to Marshall Construction.

The Sinclair Street development will deliver 32 affordable homes for rent.

Hillcrest and its partners are currently on-site or have planning approval to develop 119 new homes across Dundee by late 2018 and their aim is to provide 750 new properties throughout Scotland over the next 3 years.

Plans for new Dundee nursery and primary school revealed

Plans for a new primary school and a nursery in Menzieshill in Dundee have been revealed.

Residents have been urged to comment on the proposals which have been submitted to Dundee City Council.

The school will cater for 600 students and will replace Hillside and Gowriehill Primary Schools.

The nursery, with a planned capacity of 100 pupils, will replace Menzieshill nursery school.

A pre-application consultation report states that the planned site is between Dickson Avenue and Earn Crescent. The gym hall and other features will also be available for community lets.

The planning application has now been submitted and members of the public have until July 18 to submit their comments.

£2.3m hotel in ruined castle close to completion

A ruined Highland castle is in the final stages of its transformation into a multi-million pound hotel.

The 13th century castle at Ardnamurchan, Highlands has been unoccupied for 150 years but that is all set to change as the £2.3 million renovation reaches its conclusion.

Work on Mingary Castle has been ongoing since April last year and the first paying guests are expected to arrive at the new luxury holiday retreat within the next few weeks.

Major renovations on the walls and roof have been carried out on the castle, which sits on the most westerly point of mainland Britain, with the focus now being on the interior.

Tradesmen are now working to fit electrics and plumbing, as well as tile the floors and plaster the walls.

19 turbines consented for South Lanarkshire

A wind farm in Kennoxhead, South Lanarkshire, has received planning consent while Limekiln Wind Farm, in Caithness, has been refused energy minister Fergus Ewing has announced.

Consent has been granted to PNE WIND UK Limited to construct 19 turbines with an installed capacity of 64.6 megawatts (MW), on land south of Glespin in South Lanarkshire. Under the company’s community energy commitment this is likely to benefit the local community by £8 million over the 25 year operating period.

This money will be split between the South Lanarkshire Council Renewable Energy Fund and a dedicated local fund who will use the money in consultation with community groups.

Mr Ewing agreed with the outcome of the Public Local Inquiry (PLI) on Limekiln Wind Farm which said consent should be refused.

Costain appoints HR director to its board

Costain Group has promoted human resources director Sally Austin to its executive board.

Sally Austin joined Costain in 2005 as an HR manager and became HR director in April 2014.

“Sally has taken on the many challenges associated with the role of HR Director and recorded significant success,” said Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie. “I am confident the executive board will benefit greatly from her appointment in terms of her knowledge, experience and commitment to the company.”

Lead stripped from £2m revamped Glasgow primary school

A Glasgow primary school faces a crippling repair bill after vandals stripped lead off its new roof two months after a £2 million revamp.

Heavy rain has caused water damage to the roof, classrooms, offices and corridors, which will costs thousands to repair.

Police investigating the vandalism believe thieves will only get around £50 for the stolen lead.

Kings Park Primary, in the south side, is one of Glasgow schools to undergo a £2 million facelift as part of Glasgow City Council’s £130m, 4Rs school refurbish strategy that has seen major investment in the cities nurseries and schools.

As part of the deal a new roof was built which has now been damaged.

King’s Park is one of three schools, along with Annette Street and Croftfoot primaries to be targeted by lead thieves in the last few weeks.

Plans drawn up for solar farm on land near Kelso

A solar farm could be built on farm land near Kelso.

Developers have submitted initial plans for the 5MW project to Scottish Borders Council.

Green Energy UK is exploring the possibility of constructing the panels about a mile south-east of the centre of Kelso.

The firm, which is based in Cheshire, has told planners it would cover an area of 30.6 acres (12 hectares) of land at Wooden Farm.

In a pre-application “screening request” to the council, they claim most of the site will remain vegetated as only 30 per cent of the site will be covered by solar panels.

The developers said the farm could be built in 12 weeks and it is likely to be in place for 25 years.

The panels will be no more than 2.3m (7.5ft) in height.

Turner & Townsend appoints new UK infrastructure MD

Turner & Townsend has appointed Patricia Moore as managing director for infrastructure in the UK.

Patricia, who was previously head of rail for the consultancy, will be responsible for the firm’s strategic direction and growth in the infrastructure sector.

Having worked with clients including High Speed 2 (HS2), Crossrail, Network Rail, Transport for London (TfL), Heathrow Airport Ltd and the Ministry of Defence, Patricia has extensive experience in successfully setting-up and delivering a number of the country’s most complex programmes and projects.

Patricia will be taking the reins from Murray Rowden, who assumes the position of global managing director infrastructure, having led the division in the UK for 4 years. Murray also continues his responsibilities as chairman of the industry best practice organisation Constructing Excellence.

Oban public realm project opens to the public

Argyll and Bute Council’s £600,000 public realm improvement project in Oban’s Stafford Street is now complete, with the new space being opened to members of the public last week.

An official opening is currently being arranged for Wednesday 26th August.

The improvements to Stafford Street provide the people of Oban with a terraced space to sit, relax and view the bay; a flexible open area (with power and Wi-Fi infrastructure) for small scale events and a shelter with inlaid artwork and ornamental colour changing LED lighting.

Phase two, from Stafford Street to George Street, Queen’s Park Place and Station Square, is expected to begin later this year, with a view to completion by summer 2016.

The design for Station Square provides a shared surface, flexible space for occasional events; a widened seaside footway; an improved shelter for bus passengers; flexible seating; ornamental planting; LED lighting similar to Stafford Street; like-for-like provision for taxis and a new plinth for the clock tower.

George Street and Queen’s Park Place will see bespoke seating areas, including planting and decorative lighting; an improved footway on the seafront; refurbished railings and replacement lighting along the sea wall.

Plans for Knockendurrick wind farm scaled back

Plans for a wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway have been scaled back.

Banks Renewables said it has amended its proposals for Knockendurrick community wind farm in response to feedback during a consultation process.

In its original plans, the developer wanted to build seven 132m high turbines at the site near Twynholm.

Under revised proposals due to be submitted to Dumfries and Galloway Council, six towers will be reduced to 115m in height. The seventh will be 100m high.

Banks Renewables has also agreed to alter the position of the turbines on the site.

They will sit to the east of the site, further away from the National Scenic Area.

The changes mean the output of the proposed wind farm will decrease from 23.8MW to 14MW.

Number of empty homes brought back into use doubled in last year

The number of private empty homes brought back into use in Scotland last year has an estimated market value of around £93 million, according to the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP).

Run by housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government, the SEHP supported local authority empty homes officers to bring the 558 empty homes back into use in the last 12 months - double the figure of 278 from the previous year.

With the average cost of bringing an empty property back into use standing at £15,500 and the average cost of a new build home in Scotland being £100,000, the SEHP says that empty homes work makes good financial sense both for the owners and local authorities.

The news comes following the publication of the SEHP’s 2014-15 annual report.

Since its launch in 2010, the partnership has helped to restore almost 1,000 empty properties across Scotland into homes again, either for sale, rent (some at affordable rates) or owner occupation.