Building Briefs - September 9th

• Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust acquires Cairngorm land for £7.5m

Jason Baggaley

The site, acquired as part of the company’s carbon strategy, supports 956 hectares for planting with natural broadleaf trees (about 1.5m trees in total) with approximately 115 hectares for peatland restoration, with the remainder open land to support bio diverse habitats.

The site is expected to sequester approximately 195,630 tonnes of carbon up until 2060, representing 73 per cent of the company’s residual embedded and operational carbon.

Jason Baggaley, fund manager of SLIPIT, said: “SLIPIT has acquired this significant opportunity for reforestation as part of its carbon strategy.

“We believe that being an early mover will give the company an important advantage in future costs for offsetting as society moves to net zero by 2050. We anticipate making a couple of further acquisitions, on a smaller scale, to complete this element of the carbon strategy.

“Although the focus is on carbon offsetting the opportunities for wider ecological and net bio diversity gain are also being explored, which is important given changing legislation around development in the UK.”

• Tidal energy manufacturer secures £6.4m investment

Eilidh Mactaggart

Tidal energy pioneer Nova Innovation has secured £6.4 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) to fund manufacturing and distribution of its innovative subsea tidal turbines.

The investment will see Edinburgh-based Nova, whose innovative 100kW tidal turbines have been deployed in Shetland since 2016, increase its presence across the UK and expand into new global markets.

Nova’s turbines can be used to generate tidal energy within small projects in coastal communities or scaled up to large developments that power the national grid.

As well as strong domestic opportunities for tidal energy in the waters around Scotland and the UK, Nova’s technology has global potential as there are strong tidal currents on every continent.

• Meikle Cantly road disruption continues

Moray Council has confirmed the landslip at Meikle Cantly, near Keith, will not be fixed this year.

The A95 between Keith and Glenbarry has had traffic lights in place since early December 2019 when erosion from the River Isla, undermined the slope supporting the road, causing a landslip.

A contract for the project was put out to tender earlier this year with only one bid received at a significantly higher cost than originally forecast. The work, and budget of £693,000, is therefore being deferred until 2022/23.

Road maintenance manager, Mark Atherton, said: “We’re aware of massive disruption in the construction industry just now owing to a number of worldwide market factors.

“Suppliers have said they didn’t tender for this particular contract due to having large volumes of other work on and no capacity to deliver the project in the preferred timescale.

“The costs associated with this project have also come back as a lot higher than anticipated, which has rendered the job unfeasible this year.

“We appreciate the deep frustration when works like this go on longer than projected, we feel it too, and we’re grateful to road users in the area for their patience as we face obstacles out-with our control.”

• Carriageway surfacing works to be undertaken at Stonehaven Flood Protection Scheme

There are a number of traffic restrictions coming into effect next week as part of the Stonehaven Flood Protection Scheme to allow for final carriageway surfacing.

The areas affected are Low Wood Road, Carron Gardens from Woodview Court to Low Wood Road and Carron Terrace – from Green Bridge to the dead-end area.

• Regeneration work points visitors in the right direction around Fraserburgh

The final touches to a project to help visitors to Fraserburgh find their way around the town are underway.

As part of the wider regeneration of the town, it was identified that it was not always easy for visitors to walk between the key sights and attractions. 

The project started off with an aim to better connect the town centre and the beach, but has become a series of wider signage improvements, funded by Aberdeenshire Council’s regeneration budget and the Scottish Government Coastal Communities Fund.

The main element of the project has been the replacement and enhancement of the fingerpost network across the town, helping guide those on foot around the town. 

Retaining the distinctive blue and orange colours which feature on much of Fraserburgh’s street furniture, the new signs have been designed to point to more destinations across the town and are constructed in high quality conservation-standard materials to complement the other improvements taking place in the town centre. 

Other elements of the wider project include new large town maps at the bus station and at the beach, new water safety signage and an interactive digital bus timetable on Broad Street.