Building Briefs – May 5th

  • Dunfermline Waste Water Treatment Works go green

Dunfermline Waste Water Treatment Works has turned to green energy to boost Scottish Water’s pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

Building Briefs – May 5th

It is the latest Scottish Water site to have solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels installed. Scottish Water Horizons, its commercial subsidiary, invested £300,000 installing 784 PV panels at the work which serves around 81,000 customers in Dunfermline, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, Crossgates, Rosyth and Kingseat.



The carbon-reducing technology – which works by converting light into electricity using semi conducting materials - will offset almost ten% of the electricity required to operate the facility.

The new 231 kW solar PV system will generate 0.2GWHr of energy on an annual basis – equivalent to powering 55 homes for a year.  
Renewable energy experts FES Support Services delivered the project on behalf of Scottish Water Horizons. The panels are now in place and operating on an area of previously unused waste ground at the site which is in St Margaret’s Bay, which is just below the Queensferry Crossing on the north shore. The work was completed before the middle of March before lockdown conditions over the COVID-19 pandemic began.

To date 8.2MW of photovoltaic (PV) power has now been installed at over 43 SW sites generating 6.5 GWh of renewable energy annually.

 



  • Inverkeithing’s Mercat Cross to be conserved and moved

Work is continuing behind the scenes on Inverkeithing’s Heritage Regeneration Project despite the current lockdown.

Building Briefs – May 5th

A major step forward has been made in improving the streetscape. Plans to conserve and move the Mercat Cross into the heart of the town were granted planning and listed building consent in April.



The heritage focus of the project will help reinforce the town’s historical identity and develop its visitor potential. Inverkeithing’s Mercat Cross is one of the oldest in Scotland. The main column and coats of arms are believed to date from 1398. It will be restored and moved from Bank Street into a more prominent position in the Market Square.

Working with local schools, a time capsule will be created and buried beneath this symbol of the town’s heritage as part of the project’s packed Activity Programme.

This and the rest of the planned public realm uplift is part of a five-year programme of heritage themed investment in the town, 2019-2024. Generous awards from the National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), along with Fife Council money and other funding, make up the ring-fenced regeneration package of £3.6 million.

The public realm improvements will account for £1.3m of this and includes the streetscape surfaces (roads and footways), new seating, street furniture and heritage features. A first phase of work around the civic centre, due to be undertaken this summer, has been delayed by the lockdown, but the main phase of public realm uplift focussed on the Market Square, is hopefully still on track to start on site in Summer 2021.



The improvements will make the area more pedestrian and cycle friendly, whilst retaining the current number of car parking spaces through sensitive design. Good quality streetscape materials will enhance the setting of the many listed buildings. The design concepts have taken onboard input from local people at various consultation events in recent years. There will be further opportunity for people to have their say in June and July, once more detailed layouts have been drawn up, and COVID-19 restrictions have eased. 

 

  • Windfarm plans for New Cumnock lodged

Plans have now been submitted for a new windfarm near New Cumnock.



The Greenburn windfarm would comprises 16 turbines, with a maximum height of 149.9m with a capacity of 67.2MW.

The site would be located approximately 4.5km from New Cumnock adjacent to the former Greenburn opencast coal mine in an area which takes in some of the land earmarked for the East Ayrshire Coalfield Communities Landscape Project.

The plans, which would co-locate battery storage with the wind farm to maximise grid connection use, were previously subject to an 18-month long consultation.

Developer REG Greenburn Limited is also offering to set up a community benefit fund that will be developed and shaped by residents.


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