Building Briefs – December 2nd

Places for People has picked up another award for its innovative affordable housing development in the former mining community of Twechar, East Dunbartonshire.

Named after the nearby ruins of the Roman-built Antonine Wall - a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to 142AD – Roman Fields has now received a Silver Award for Best Starter Homes at the 2015 WhatHouse Awards held in London.

Roman Fields was praised by the WhatHouse judges for its understanding of local economic conditions and providing great accessibility to local buyers, first time buyers working in Twechar’s neighbouring cities and also downsizers.

The development has been designed to be ‘tenure blind’, to help local people at different stages of life into home ownership. The first phase of the development has sold well, thanks largely to the flexibility and provision of a range of rental and ownership options.

The next phase of development is due to start on site early next year and will support the wider regeneration objective for Twechar of achieving a population increase to 2000 people by 2020.

Earlier this year, Roman Fields was named both ‘Small Affordable Housing Development of the Year (Housing Associations) (less than 60 units)’ as well as overall ‘Affordable Housing Development of the Year (Private Builders)’ at the Scottish Home Awards 2015 ceremony in Glasgow.

New loan fund to help bring empty Perth & Kinross buildings back into use

Perth & Kinross Council has this week officially launched its Empty Property Loan Fund - a new interest-free loan designed to help owners of long-term empty buildings to repair or convert them for use as affordable housing.

Funding can be used for any property from a country cottage or a city centre flat to an office or shop, provided that it has been empty for at least six months. The loans are subject to the owner either letting the property at affordable rental levels for a period of five years or selling it at an affordable level, on completion of the works. For individual properties, the loan can range from £5,000 to £15,000. Higher value loans can be considered for larger-scale projects.

The council’s Investment Team has been helping owners of empty properties by providing advice and encouragement as well as signposting both local and national funding and assistance that is available. To date assistance has been given towards bringing over 200 properties back into use across the Perth and Kinross area, and the new fund is already prompting interest from property owners locally.

Improvement works to commence at Highland tourism project

The Highland Council has awarded a contract to Cleantech Civils Ltd for the delivery of environmental improvement works at Chanonry Point, near Fortrose.

Works on site will commence early in the New Year and are scheduled for completion before the Easter.

Chanonry Point, located between the villages of Fortrose and Rosemarkie, is a popular location for dolphin watching with visitor numbers estimated at over 120,000 every year.

To allow the works to proceed, the car park and the access road will be closed to all vehicular traffic between the 4th January and 24th March. Vehicular access for residents will be maintained throughout. Access to the Point for pedestrians and those arriving by bicycle will remain available throughout the works.

The £273,000 Chanonry project will provide a generally enhanced visitor experience through refurbishment of the existing car park area, provision of disabled parking spaces, cycle stands and new seating. There will be a clearer route between the car park and the existing all-abilities path leading to the Point and information on the wider locality will encourage visitors to better understand the area, extend their stay on the Black Isle and /or to revisit in the future.

Association for Project Safety website relaunched

The new APS website was launched on Monday 30 November 2015, giving a fresh new look to the site.

APS decided that it needed a new lease of life, updated look-and-feel and easier to access and navigate.

Working with web developers, R//evolution, it has refreshed the entire site and launched new sections including a platform to listen to webinars and a membership FAQs service.

Improvements planned for Dundee parks

Two Dundee parks could be in line for a total of nearly £80,000 of investment to help improve and protect facilities for the future.

A new surface is being proposed for the play area at Baxter Park, while the former bowling green there could be redeveloped with landscaping following consultation with the Friends of Baxter Park.

Meanwhile, the Friends of Dudhope Park have been involved in proposals to create a dog exclusion zone by putting in fencing around the play area.

The plans will be discussed by Dundee City Council’s environment committee on Monday December 7.

Fife road reopens after £1.4m engineering project

A £1.4 million road engineering project in Fife is now complete.

The Dura Den road has been reopened since it was closed in October 2012.

Flooding due to extreme rainfall caused the retaining walls supporting the road to collapse, various properties suffering damage.

The Coach House building, which suffered the most serious damage, has been demolished and a new home built on its site.

In addition, contractors built extensive retaining walls to restore the road’s structural support.

Drainage and road resurfacing works have now brought the project to a close.