Building Briefs – April 3rd

Castlehill Housing Association awarded council grant for Aberdeen development

Aberdeen City Council has awarded a grant of £645,100 to Castlehill Housing Association towards a new affordable housing development in the city.

The funding will go towards Castlehill’s 36 house project with Bancon Homes at Maidencraig, off the Lang Stracht.

Aberdeen City Council handed over the first properties at its development of 99 council homes at Smithfield in 2017, with further phases nearing completion. A further 80 council homes are under construction at Manor Walk and the first properties were handed over to tenants in recent weeks.

Last month the council announced it is to develop plans for the delivery of 2,000 new council homes.

The council will also aim to expand its work with the private sector in the provision of affordable housing and will prepare a report detailing land holdings that could be made available.

New West Dunbartonshire school officially opens

West Dunbartonshire Council’s newest flagship school, Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School was officially opened last week.

Elected Members, parents, pupils, staff and invited guests attended the opening of the new £25 million Bellsmyre school on March 27.

As part of the opening ceremony guests were shown a video which highlighted how students are benefiting from the new building and also detailed the history of how Notre Dame and St Patrick’s came together to create Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School.

The school was officially opened by convener of educational services, Councillor Karen Conaghan, who is a former pupil of Notre dame and an OLSP parent.

Following the opening ceremony, senior pupils took guests on a tour of the school, showing off the impressive educational and sporting facilities within the new building.

Two senior development appointments at Savills

Savills Scotland has bolstered its Scottish development team with key appointments.

George Hepburn Scott has joined the team as a director to advise on residential investment and PRS transactions across Scotland. George worked within Savills development in Scotland until 2010, before joining the company’s residential capital markets team in London advising on the disposal, acquisition and valuation of residential investment blocks and portfolios across the UK.

Richard Thompson joins the Scottish development team as a director from Savills rural, energy and projects division where he accumulated 30 years’ experience, with a focus on development opportunities, and he leads Savills strategic land targeting group in Scotland.

Neist Point improvement works

Improvement works to the access road and parking at the Neist Point lighthouse, a landmark and view point at the western tip of the Isle of Skye, are near completion.

Works at the site include the creating of an additional 50 car parking spaces, road resurfacing works, improvements to the turning area, extending the existing passing place and creating an additional one.

The overall project cost is £165K and Highland Council is receiving £100,000 towards the work from the Scottish Government’s new Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund set up to address notable rises in visitor numbers experienced by some of the most popular destinations in the Scottish countryside.

New plans for Cupar’s former police station

New plans have been drawn up for a care home on the site of Cupar’s former police station.

Balmoral Construction wants to build a 70-bedroom home on the land at Carslogie Road.

Previous designs were rejected by councillors and a Scottish Government reporter.

The developer said the redraft took account of the reporter’s concerns about the impact on neighbours and overdevelopment of the site.

It said the proposed building would be further from the eastern boundary than previously planned, with extensive open space to the front.

Morrison Construction sponsors Blantyre primary school’s competition

Morrison Construction has contributed £350 in sponsorship towards this year’s Bonnie Blantyre Primary Schools Sunflower Growing competition, which more than 1,000 pupils will take part in.

The sponsorship will go towards funding the competition between pupils from the five Blantyre primary schools who will strive to grow the tallest sunflower in their school.

The competition is run by community group Bonnie Blantyre in partnership with the Blantyre Community Council provides pupils with a sunflower growing kit that includes a small pot, compost, two sunflower seeds and growing instructions.

First, second and third prizes will be given out at each of the five local schools taking part in the competition.