Building Briefs – August 2nd

84 new homes officially opened in Clydebank

Minister for local government, housing and planning, Kevin Stewart, visited Clydebank this week to officially open new social housing developments by West Dunbartonshire Council and Clydebank Housing Association.

The developments, which highlight the significant partnership working between the two organisations, have brought 84 homes to the area through the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Programme.

The council’s development on Second Avenue/Singer Street consists of 40 properties of mixed size and type including townhouses, designed in-house by the council and built by CCG.

Clydebank Housing Association’s development saw 44 one and two-bedroom flats built by AS Homes on the site of the former La Scala Cinema on Graham Avenue including 4 two-bedroom wheelchair flats. Both developments meet West Dunbartonshire Council’s Design Standard and meet Silver Standard for Energy Efficiency.

With currently 800 applicants on Clydebank Housing Association’s waiting list and 3,810 on West Dunbartonshire Council’s waiting list these homes were a much needed addition to housing stock in the area. Almost half of the lets made by the housing association were provided to homeless persons through the council, which assists in alleviating homelessness.

This is the first new housing development for Clydebank Housing Association since 2009 and the first in Clydebank for West Dunbartonshire Council since 2014.

Clydebank Housing Association’s £5.1m development was a design and build partnership with AS Homes (Scotland) Ltd with funding of £3.17m from the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Programme, together with private finance of £2m from CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) Bank. The council was provided with £2.36m from the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Programme towards their £4.8m development.

Aberdeen sees office take-up drive in 2018

Office take-up in Aberdeen in the second quarter of 2018 totalled 90,647 sq ft taking the total for the first six months to c.180,000 sq ft across 52 deals, according to international real estate advisor Savills.

The firm says churn in the market is being brought about by a significant rise in the number of deals taking place, compared to the corresponding period in 2017, when 30 lettings completed amounting to c.240,000 sq ft.

Key deals include: Ping Petroleum committing to 8,777 sq ft at Caledonian House; Aberdeen Journals taking 18,963 sq ft at 1MSq, Marischal Square, and RBS committing to 7,049 sq ft next door (2 MSq); a 6,079 sq ft letting to Verus Petroleum UK Ltd at The Silver Fin Building; and Serica Energy taking 7,300 sq ft at H1, Hill of Rubislaw.

£6m East Ayrshire road resurfacing scheme progresses

Work is to commence to resurface the A77 in Fenwick as part of East Ayrshire’s £6 million road scheme.

The programme involves the resurfacing of 60km of damaged local roads.

Work will begin in Fenwick on 13 August where 2100m of the A77 will be resurfaced from Fenwick to the B751 High Gardum.

On 27 August, work will move to the B743 Muirkirk to Strathaven where a 800m area will be resurfaced south of the old quarry to 100m south of Greenock water. Approximately 600m will also be resurfaced on the U731 High Road to Waterhead and a further 200m will be resurfaced north of Waterhead.

Resurfacing will also take place on a 460m section of the A735 from Newmill Road, Dunlop to the 30mph speed limit sign, and on the A719 at Glassock, Heresshaw and Polbaith where a 1820m section will be resurfaced from the A77 to Glassock, the U44 to the U40 and Polbaith to Fairfield.

Brighter future for Campbeltown Old Courthouse

Campbeltown’s B-Listed Old Courthouse building is in the hands of a new owner who hopes to bring it back into use for the first time in more than 30 years.

The building in the town’s Bolgam Street has been transferred to the ownership of a newly-formed development company Kilkerran Developments Ltd, which is led by Hedley G Wright, chairman of Campbeltown’s famous whisky producer, Springbank Distillery.

Argyll and Bute Council facilitated the ownership transfer and it is hoped the building’s future is much brighter than it has looked for years, and will build on the other successful regeneration projects happening in the town.

While Kilkerran Developments have yet to reveal their detailed plans for the Old Courthouse, it is thought that the whisky trade will almost certainly be at the centre of the building’s new direction.

The building has fallen into a state of disrepair, with the council’s Building Standards team monitoring the site. Renovation work is vital to preserve it for future use.

An investment of £2.2million to boost Campbeltown’s historic town centre was launched in 2015 and runs until 2020. The CARS (Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme) follows on from an earlier CARS, which ran from 2007 to 2012, and the Townscape Heritage Initiative, in operation from 2009 to 2015.

Work continues on £5.5m Easter Ross water project

Work is continuing on Scottish Water’s £5.5 million project to improve the security of water supply across Easter Ross.

ESD and Coffey Construction are building a new tank with a capacity to store up to eight million litres of drinking water.

When complete, the tank will improve the water supply for around 30,000 across Easter Ross, Dingwall and the Black Isle.

The project is expected to be completed in early 2019.

Major carriageways in Renfrewshire resurfaced

A number of major carriageways have been successfully resurfaced as part of a £7.2 million investment in Renfrewshire roads.

Work has been completed on more than a third of all carriageways in the planned programme, including key routes such as Broadloan in Renfrew and Old Greenock Road in Inchinna.

Six projects have also been undertaken to address footways across the region, with a further 33 roads undergoing minor repairs to prevent deterioration.

Other resurfacing works are to take place in Lonend, Paisley, and Ferry Road in Bishopton.