Building Briefs – April 23rd

The third and final phase of Link Group Ltd’s 10-year regeneration project has been officially opened by West Dunbartonshire Council’s convener of housing, Councillor Diane Docherty.

Construction of Dalmuir Phase 3 began in August 2016 using £2,276,640 funding from the Scottish Government. Built by McTaggart Construction, the development comprises 30 one, two and three-bedroom homes for social rent.

The properties have been built to Silver Standard 1 and 2, with high levels of insulation, solar panels, smart meters and mechanical extract ventilation systems, creating warm, comfortable, energy-efficient homes that are easy and economical to run.

Prior to construction starting, the 6.5 acre site housed three and four-storey flat tenement properties, which were built by the Beardmore Company in 1920 to house its workers and others.

Link held extensive consultations with the community before embarking on the ambitious three-phase project to demolish all 292 flats, replacing them with 164 new homes mostly for social rent but also for New Supply Shared Equity sale. The existing road layout, school and nursery were retained to preserve the character of the community.

Link contributed around £12 million in funding to the three phases of this regeneration project, as well as using funding from the Scottish Government, West Dunbartonshire Council and private lenders.

Locations revealed for 250 new council homes in West Lothian

Plans to build 250 new council homes in West Lothian have taken a step forward after a number of locations for future development were agreed by the local authority.

A total of six sites have been identified to accommodate the new homes, which will go towards the council’s aim of developing 3,000 affordable homes in the region by 2022.

Details of the sites are as follows:

Overall, around two thirds of the council’s 3,000 homes target are either already built or under construction. To meet the target, nearly 900 further homes need to be planned for over the next few years. Whilst the council will provide some of these homes, it is anticipated that a significant amount will be constructed by Registered Social Landlords.

In addition, the council will also add to the supply of ‘affordable’ homes by completing the balance of the existing new build programme and purchasing former council houses from the open market.

West Lothian Council sells former Cunniger Hall

West Lothian Council has agreed to sell the former Cunniger Hall in Mid Calder for £65,000.

The property in School Lane has been vacant since the playgroup/nursery ceased trading and was declared surplus to the council’s operational requirement in November last year.

The property has been marketed as suitable for residential or commercial development since February and attracted a number of interests with the offer accepted being considered in the councils best interests.

A council spokesperson said: “The building is surplus to requirements and is lying empty. It is in everyone’s best interests to sell the property and see it put to a beneficial use.”

Bumper year for Scottish hotels

An influx of overseas visitors combined with the rise of the UK as a ‘staycation nation’ has resulted in a bumper year for the Scottish hotel market, according to a new report published today by accountancy and business advisory firm BDO.

BDO’s Hotel Britain report, which analyses the room yield of UK hotels, reveals the sector experienced another year of positive results in 2017 despite the global uncertainty which has impacted other sectors.

Scotland posted the strongest performance in the UK, with room yield growth up by 4.9% compared to Wales (4.1%), Northern Ireland (2.2%) and England (1.9%).

Edinburgh was the top performing city outside of London benefiting from strong leisure and corporate demand with the highest occupancy of any UK city at 85%, an increase of 1.8% on the previous year. The occupancy rate for Glasgow increased slightly by 0.1% to 83.2%.

By contrast, Aberdeen, following its fifth successive year of reduced occupancy, now has the lowest rate in the UK at 63.4%, which was a decline of 5.7% on 2016’s numbers.

UK-wide, overseas visitor numbers grew for the eighth consecutive year, setting a new annual record at 38.9m. Spend in the leisure and hospitality market also hit record levels at £24.3bn in 2017, up 8% year on year.

NHBC receives ‘gold’ international Health & Safety award

NHBC has been awarded gold in the esteemed Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Health and Safety awards.

The warranty and insurance provider for new homes has received the award just a year after receiving silver status.

The RoSPA awards scheme, which is the longest-running industry awards scheme in the country, is judged by some of the industry’s most influential experts and trade unions and recognises outstanding achievement in health and safety practices.

Simon Mantle, group health and safety policy manager, will attend the RoSPA Health and Safety awards ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on 5 July, where he will collect the award on behalf of the business.

CCG fundraising fun day returns in 2018

In 2017, Glasgow-based construction company CCG (Scotland) Ltd raised over £100,000 for a range of charitable causes, most notably organising an ‘It’s a Knockout Fun Day’ raising over £30,000 for the St Andrew’s Hospice Capital Appeal.

CCG is looking to repeat this in 2018 with the return of the ‘It’s a Knockout Day’ in August. The event will involve up to 30 teams competing against each other across an inflatable assault course located on the grounds of the M&D’s Theme Park in Strathclyde Park, South Lanarkshire.

Alongside companies from within the CCG Group, businesses from the company’s supply chain are invited to take part and donate £500 to a charity of their choice by taking part in the event.

Companies can register their interest by visiting c-c-g.co.uk/csr.

Surfacing works to begin on B979 at Stonehaven

Surfacing works are to be carried out on the B979 at Stonehaven.

The scheme forms part of the new Stonehaven Junction, which is being delivered as part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project.

A section of the B979, between the new Ury Estate and the new A90 southbound slip road, will be closed between 10pm and 6am on Friday, 20 April and Saturday, 21 April. Slip roads to and from the northbound A90 to the B979 will also be closed during these times.

Perth residents invited to submit views on St Paul’s Church revamp

Residents in Perth are being invited to submit their views over design plans to transform St Paul’s Church.

Work on the first phase of the scheme, which will see the building transformed into a public arts and events space, was recently completed.

The council has been working in partnership with Hadden Construction regarding the second phase of works, discussing proposals for the building with Historic Environment Scotland, as well as submitting formal applications for planning and listed building consent.

Members of the project team are now seeking views from local businesses and interested residents to gather views on the design of the building, the use of the space and future management arrangements. This is to ensure that business needs are met and the impact on local residents during construction and subsequent operation of the space is minimised as far as possible.

The exhibition will take place in the Kinnoull Suite of the Mercure Hotel on West Mill Street today until 6pm.

Work starts on Stirling road bridge redevelopment

Work is underway to redevelop a road bridge in Stirling.

Network Rail engineers have started demolishing and rebuilding the structure at Kerse Road, with work scheduled for completion in late October.

The structure is being redeveloped as part of a wider programme of improvements on the Stirling line ahead of the Scottish Government-funded investment into electrifying central Scotland’s rail network.

The project also avoids the need for the council to undertake significant maintenance on the bridge in the next few years, with the new structure having a lifespan in excess of 100 years. In addition, the scheme will allow Network Rail to work with Stirling Council to create the potential to enhance the local road network in line with the city’s transport strategy.