Building Briefs – December 4th

Cube Housing and West Dunbartonshire Council to deliver new homes

A new partnership between West Dunbartonshire Council and Cube Housing Association is delivering on its promise to provide new affordable housing across West Dunbartonshire.

The council, Cube and its parent organisation Wheatley Group have reached an agreement which will see hundreds of new homes built.

Work has begun on 54 new modern, stylish, energy-efficient homes for rent at Beardmore Place, Clydebank. The flats, which are a mixture of one and two bedrooms, are being built by CCG and will be available from September 2015.

A development of 33 new affordable homes at The Scholars site in Clydebank was completed in July this year.

The partnership plans to deliver an additional 300 new affordable homes in West Dunbartonshire over the next three years. Possible sites include the former Bonhill Primary School, Castlehill in Dumbarton and land at Graham Avenue, Clydebank. Cube already has more than 400 homes in West Dunbartonshire.

Go-ahead for new Glasgow Aldi store

Plans for an Aldi store in Drumchapel have been given the go ahead despite a recommendation by planners to refuse it.

The proposals to build a branch of the discount supermarket chain were approved this week by Glasgow City Council’s planning committee.

Work is expected to start on the 17,000 sq ft store in Duntreath Avenue in the New Year. It is hoped it will open by Easter.

Council planners had recommended full planning permission be denied because the site was not in the town centre but councillors voted it through by 11 to two.

Meanwhile, Lidl has planning permission in principle for a store in Drumchapel town centre.

Next step for Fife Council wind turbine project

Communities are getting the chance to talk to Fife Council about plans to develop wind turbines on two sites.

Planning applications are to be lodged for sites at Pitreavie Playing Fields and Halbeath Park and Ride.

Applications will be submitted later this month and there will then be a statutory period of consultation during which time comments can be made on the applications.

Argyll and Bute fire training facility planned

A new fire and rescue training facility has been proposed for Faslane nuclear submarine base.

Defence contractor Babcock, operators at Faslane Naval Base, submitted the plans to Argyll and Bute Council last week.

The planning application proposes the construction of a new fire and rescue training facility at the site.

The plans, submitted by Babcock on behalf of Her Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, would also result in the demolition of two units.

They want to replace them with three buildings to form a 70 square meter training centre at the base.

It comes a week after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) applied for planning permission for a major new radioactive waste treatment plant at Faslane.

It has told Argyll and Bute Council that the new facility is to treat and dispose of solid and liquid radioactive waste.

Development plans for Crail Airfield

Plans are on the table to redevelop Scotland’s best preserved Second World War naval airfield.

Houses, a hotel, community centre and shops could be built at Crail Airfield if the masterplan being prepared comes to fruition and could impact on activities held at Crail Raceway.

The proposal by Landvest is at an early stage but includes 47 acres of residential development alongside an artisan and craft village, community centre and land for heritage, commercial, light industrial and tourism and leisure uses.

The airfield, which is listed by Historic Scotland, was abandoned by the military 50 years ago and many of its buildings have fallen into a state of disrepair.

Landvest has submitted a proposal of application notice to Fife Council and intends to submit an application for planning permission in principle.

Dundee cemetery infrastructure improvement works

Councillors will be asked to approve work at two Dundee cemeteries on Monday.

Following an annual review of the cemeteries across the city, a number of improvements have been identified at Balgay and Eastern Cemetery.

Over £48,000 will be spent on the restoration of steps to improve safety within Balgay cemetery, improvements to drainage channels to reduce erosion of footpaths and headstones at Balgay cemetery and improvement works to drainage gullies at Balgay and Eastern cemeteries.

The work would also assist in the future maintenance and operation of the cemeteries.

Councillors will also be asked to approve work worth over £70,000 at various Dundee playparks as well as a new Baxter Park Multi Use Games Area.

Energy efficiency scheme for Paisley homes

A new energy efficiency programme, valued at £6.8 million, is underway in Charleston, Paisley.

The project will see hundreds of homes in the area benefit from energy measures to help families save money on their energy bills.

Up to 500 families will benefit from the scheme, Renfrewshire Council has said. The homes currently share a district heating system which was installed when the properties were built in the 1960s. Under the work, this scheme will be replaced with a new state-of-the-art energy efficient biomass heating system.

Each home will have conventional radiators fed from the new central boiler, which will also provide instant hot water to each property, while external insulation is also being fitted to the homes to improve their energy rating and keep more of the heat in.

The developments benefitting from the scheme are the Calside Court, Hamilton Court, Rowan Court and Union Court high rise blocks, as well as seven maisonette blocks in Alice Street and Calside.

Building brighter futures at River Clyde Homes

Two young people from Port Glasgow have benefitted from community benefit clauses in River Clyde Homes contracts.

The organisation has used community benefit clauses in its contracts to underpin its commitment to creating employment opportunities across the area through the work it undertakes.

Over the years many local people, particularly the young, have benefitted from the community benefits clauses included in contracts for building new homes, investment works and demolition programmes. As a result more than 200 jobs and training opportunities have been created for local people.

Recently, two apprentice bricklayers, Martin Murray and Stuart Higgins have been taken on by CCG who are building 20 new homes for the association at Woodhall Terrace in Port Glasgow. These homes are being built with financial assistance from the Scottish government and when complete will bring the number of new homes built by River Clyde Homes over the last seven years to 482.

CALA helps support Road Safety Week at Livingston primary school

CALA Homes has shown its support for Road Safety Week by donating a collection of road safety accessories to a local primary school.

The developer supplied more than 60 primary one pupils with a range of road safety equipment and information including reflectors, luminous bags, informative posters and leaflets.

Williamston Primary School, in Livingston, received the bags as part of a seven day campaign, which is organised by UK-wide charity, Brake.

The week held in November each year, aims to educate young people on the dangers of UK roads and provide steps to improve general road-safety.

The campaign is also very close to CALA’s heart due to its family-orientated values and ethos for creating safe community hubs.

Barratt Homes West Scotland raises £1,180 for The Movember Foundation

Barratt Homes has raised £1,180 for The Movember Foundation, thanks to a host of fundraising efforts across its West Scotland division.

£500 was raised at Cathkin Rise in Cambuslang, and £300 at Ballerup Village in East Kilbride, after the firm pledged to donate £100 for every new home reservation made at the sites during November.

Stuart King, senior architectural technician for Barratt Homes raised £300 in sponsorship by growing his own moustache, and £80 was raised by staff in the firm’s administrative office from a dress-down day.

The Movember Foundation, which has to date raised £346 million, is committed to saving and improving the lives of men affected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.