Building Briefs - March 27th

  • South Lanarkshire school extension to begin

South Lanarkshire Council’s investment in local children’s education is set to continue.

A £4 million extension will add seven more classrooms to Newton Farm Primary School, increasing its capacity by almost a third.

This would grow the school to meet anticipated demand in the Newton Community Growth (CGA) area – one of a number of CGSs being developed by the council as part of the Glasgow City Region City Deal.

The proposed extension was reported to the council’s executive committee this week. Officers told the committee that when Newton Farm Primary School was planned and initially designed a second phase of development was always anticipated.

The committee heard that the proposed extension would increase the number of mainstream classrooms at the school to 21, allowing the roll to grow from the current 489 pupils to a new capacity of 630.

There will also be a catchment review which will take account of the longer-term growth of the Newton area, with options including consultation to be agreed at a future meeting of the Executive Committee.

The extension will cost £4.39m, with a contribution of £790,000 anticipated from the Newton Community Growth Area. The council has already invested £170,000 in design work, and the £3.43m balance would be funded by council borrowing, subject to the future approval of the executive committee.

 

  • Glasgow office activity on the up in Q1 2021

Glasgow recorded 63,388 sq ft of take-up, a 49% increase from Q4 2020, with a further 170,000 sq ft of office space under offer, according to Savills latest report on the Glasgow office market.



Although take-up is down on the five year average by 67% the amount of office space currently under offer and the volume of requirements in the market, present strong prospects for the remainder of 2021, says the firm.

Over 50% of take-up came from construction firm Multiplex Europe Ltd’s 34,000 sq ft letting at 2 Cadogan Square, the largest office deal in Glasgow during Q1. The Public Services, Education & Health and Business & Consumer Services sectors also contributed to a significant proportion of take-up, accounting for 13% and 10%, respectively.

Demand remains at pre-pandemic levels with live requirements in the market totalling c.800,000 sq ft, demonstrating significant occupier confidence in Glasgow, according to the firm.

Availability in Glasgow currently stands at 1.1 million sq ft however, only 37% of this is Grade A, totalling 426,000 sq ft and of this 187,000 sq ft is due to be delivered in Q2 and Q3 as new build or refurbished space. As a result, Savills expects rents to rise in 2021 as the new developments become available and stock remains limited, reaching £34.50 per sq ft in 2022.



 

  • Troon Harbour works

New berthing fenders are to be installed at Troon Harbour to help prepare for its use as an alternative mainland port during periods of disruption at Ardrossan Harbour.

Associated British Ports has awarded a contract, worth around £3m, to George Leslie, through grant funding provided by Transport Scotland.



Agreement has also been reached to use Troon as an alternate port of refuge to Gourock, allowing more sailings per day than the longer diversion.

These developments will support the operation of CalMac services when they are temporarily diverted to Troon during periods of disruption, including the construction phase of the Ardrossan Harbour redevelopment project.

Work is expected to start at the end of the month.


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