Building Briefs – September 26

The opening day of the first phase of public consultation on the regeneration of Aberdeen city centre attracted a positive response.

Almost 150 members of the public visited the City Centre Masterplan Ideas Shop in The Academy shopping centre to find out more about the project and how they could get involved.

The consultation, led by Aberdeen City Council’s appointed team BDP, aims to explore regeneration opportunities for the area and to gather views on what could be done in both the long and short term to breathe new life into the city centre.

Following the first round of public consultation, the BDP team will return with some draft ideas later in the year to hear what people think about these. Next year they will prepare a phased transformational masterplan for the city centre, incorporating detailed proposals for the area and a delivery programme for it.

The masterplan will provide a visionary, integrated and compelling template for the sustainable development of the city centre, informed by a robust appraisal of the area’s economy and its main property and development markets. The vision will define what the city needs to meet its aspirations and ambitions.

It will also make recommendations on the distribution of land uses across the masterplan area and the preferred locations for specific development opportunities and supporting amenities

Stewart Milne pushing on with Crathes housing plans

Stewart Milne Homes is pushing ahead with plans to treble the size of a north east village.

The developer was granted permission to build 45 homes at Crathes in June.

The proposals had initially been rejected by Aberdeenshire Council’s Marr area committee but the decision was overturned by the Scottish Government following an appeal.

A report on the ruling will go before the committee on Tuesday.

Councillors will also be asked to approve a plan for a temporary sales cabin and parking spaces to be used during the construction process. It is understood the cabin would be required only if the show home is not completed in time.

Crathes, Drumoak and Durris Community Council, which was opposed to the overall proposals, originally objected to the application because of its impact on the landscape.

Hotel to invest £1m in north

Macdonald Hotels and Resorts is investing over £1million in its flagship Aviemore properties to boost its capacity as a conference destination.

The hotel chain said work to refurbish the Academy Hotel and the nearby Aviemore Inn would commence in January.

The company expects that by April the Macdonald Aviemore Resort in the Cairngorm National Park will offer over 455 bedrooms, 18 lodges, a 1,000 capacity conference centre and eight flexible meeting spaces.

Growing firm to relocate

Moray firm Nic Houldsworth Landscape and Fencing Contractors is moving to the central belt but will retain a depot in Elgin.

The business and its team of about 15 contractors has been run by Mr Houldsworth in Elgin since 2006. It will start operating from Edinburgh in October.

Mr Houldsworth, who has supplied services to Balmoral Estate for the past four years, will split his time between the capital and the Elgin depot.

The firm specialises in landscape design, grounds maintenance, tree surgery and fencing services.

Work starts on new children’s unit at Raigmore Hospital

Work on a new £2m children’s unit at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is now officially underway.

It is being paid for by the Archie Foundation charity, which has raised £1.5m towards the cost so far.

The project involves extending Raigmore’s ward 11 to form a dedicated children’s department.

It will have a high dependency facility, play areas, a family room and a children’s day care centre.

Glasgow tower blocks to be demolished and replaced with new homes

Four multi-storey blocks in the south of Glasgow are to be demolished and new homes built after residents had their say.

GHA has developed plans for the regeneration of Tarfside Oval in Cardonald after listening to the community.

Now, after residents gave their views, the four blocks at 20, 40, 60 and 80 Tarfside Oval will be demolished and new homes built in their place.

The flats, which are empty, are expensive to maintain and difficult to let.

Plans are being developed to build between 50 and 60 new homes on the site.

Demolition is expected to take place towards the end of 2015, and work on the new homes should start some time after.

Contractors Dem Master are already on site preparing the blocks for demolition.

Progress made on action plan for Nairn town centre

Plans to regenerate Nairn town centre took another step forward this week as Members of The Highland Council’s, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Area Committee gave their backing to a draft Action Plan for Nairn Town Centre drawn up with the help of residents, businesses and community groups in the town.

Members agreed for the draft plan to be finalised and then published for formal public consultation. The plan will set out details of projects that are aimed at increasing footfall and visitor numbers in the town centre. It is also intended to help with applications for funding towards improvement projects.

A Town Centre Action Plan is now being developed which sets out details of the emerging proposals with actions for the short, medium and long-term. A formal public consultation will take place in due course and the council will consult again with all the community groups who contributed to the action plan event.

Green properties open their doors to show how to save

Residents are being invited to visit a green home for free next month as part of a national initiative.

Green homes and businesses across Scotland will be opening their doors on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 October to give people a chance to see how energy-efficiency improvements and systems based on renewable energy can reduce domestic fuel bills.

From a typical family home to a purpose-built eco-home, there’s a variety of properties to explore. And as well as homes, there are also green businesses to visit to see how they reduce their costs by using resources efficiently.

The free Green Network open days will give a unique opportunity to hear about actual costs and savings from people who have installed these measures, as well as getting invaluable tips and advice that could help save money.

More information about the financial support and specialist advice is available from the Getting started with renewables webpage.

Roofing firm’s £1,584 for campaign

A Brechin roofing firm raised more than £1,500 for the Ninewells Cancer Campaign by taking part in this year’s Forfar Marafun.

Forster Roofing Services ran three teams in May’s event and raised the impressive sum thanks to generous contributions from their suppliers, friends and families.

A cheque presentation for £1,584 was made at Ninewells Hospital to Aubrey Wood, vice-chairman of the charity campaign.

The firm plans to take part in the next Marafun in two years.

Pitlochry memorial to pay tribute to ‘hydro boys’

A “fitting memorial” to the thousands of people who built dams and tunnels in Scotland’s hydro-electric power network will form part of a new visitor centre in Pitlochry.

This will include recognition for the many Irish workers among the so-called “hydro boys”, whose role was omitted from previous tributes.

The move by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), which runs most of the system, was welcomed by MSPs, who added their voices to calls for a proper commemoration.

It came as new figures showed hydro-power generation increased by 50 per cent in the first half of this year compared to a year ago.

SSE said it was developing detailed plans for the £3 million centre and would make a “final investment decision” next summer, having received planning permission a year ago.