Building Briefs – February 11th

Highland Council has approved plans for the Isle of Raasay’s first whisky distillery.

R&B Distillers has proposed turning Borodale House, a derelict Victorian hotel, into a distillery and visitor centre.

The building work is scheduled to begin in April this year and the production of whisky next year.

The distillery would be one of the largest employers on an island with a population of about 170 people.

Shared cycle and pedestrian footway to be built in Aberdeen

Work is to start this month on a new shared cycle and pedestrian footway and widening an existing path so it can be used for cycling in the Bridge of Don area.

The 3 metre-wide shared cycle and pedestrian footway is to be built along The Parkway between Ellon Road and Balgownie Road and the works will also involve the upgrade and widening of the western footway of Ellon Road (A90) between the Parkway (A90) and Murcar Roundabout to a 3 metre wide shared-use footway.

The works will also include a section of footway improvements along the northern footway of The Parkway between Whitestripes Aveneue and the Old Whitestripes Road.

The A90 Trunk Road Cycle Route is being coordinated by Aberdeen City Council and is being joint funded by the AWPR funding partners as offset mitigation funding (exclusively the Ellon Road Section), Nestrans, and Sustrans, and The Parkway northern footway improvements are being funded through Cycle Walking Safer Streets fund.

More cycle pathways are planned for the future in the Bridge of Don area to improve connectivity to the new shared-use footways.

A competitive tender exercise was carried out on Public Contract Scotland in November/December and awarded in January to Hunter Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd for £901,919.72. The tender also included some improvements to the paths around the Don and in Seaton Park, and were identified in the Access from the North study and Aberdeen City Council’s Active Travel Action Plan.

Work to start on flooding scheme

Work is starting next week on a £140,000 Aberdeen City Council scheme to alleviate flood risk in a city community.

The Leggart Terrace Sewer Diversion project will reduce the volume of water in the existing sewer which currently fails during severe rainfall and storms.

The project is new extension or “diversion” of the existing sewer which when completed will remove the current flooding and sewer damage of the homes of nearby residents.

The works will involve excavating the roads on Leggart Terrace, Leggart Avenue and Leggart Place. This will allow two new manholes and three new runs of sewer pipe to be installed, which will form the new sewer diversion. Excavated roads will subsequently be reinstated.

The contractor for the scheme is Hunter Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd, and it will start on 16 February and is due to be finished in about eight weeks.

Council house building continues in West Lothian

West Lothian Council’s key affordable housing programme took its next step as work started on one site and planning permission was granted at another.

Last week, the council’s development management committee approved plans to build 190 new houses on the former Halls factory site in Broxburn.

Meanwhile work has started to provide new homes adjacent to the Community Centre in Bridgend.

Three new one bedroom bungalows and two, two bedroom bungalows are being built by McTaggart Construction and are expected to be completed this summer.

West Lothian Council is investing approximately £100 million to build 1,000 new council homes by 2017 across each of the nine council wards.

Dundee park and ride plan moves forward

Plans for Dundee’s first park and ride could soon take a major leap forward.

Funding for the purchase of land to the south of the Tay Bridge will be in place by the end of the financial year.

Talks are also well progressed between SEStrans, Transport Scotland and Fife and Dundee councils to secure the near £3 million required to build the site.

With hundreds of vehicles pouring over the bridge each day it is hoped the park and ride will have a dramatic impact upon city centre congestion while enabling Fife commuters to save money.

As many as four individual park and ride plans have been put forward in recent years, without any coming to fruition.

Angus Council unveils £11m housing investment

Plans have been unveiled for an £11 million investment in council housing in Angus in the coming year.

The investment, to build almost 100 new homes and improve existing stock, includes projects at the Abbey Quarter in Arbroath and the former Chapelpark primary school in Forfar, as well as the replacement of more than 7,000 council house bathrooms up until 2025.

CIAT awards Honorary Membership

The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) recently awarded Honorary Membership to Peter Caplehorn who has worked with and supported the Institute for a number of years.

Honorary Membership is the highest honour that the Institute can bestow on an individual for their work of distinction or outstanding service to the Institute; and is only awarded to exceptional individuals.

Peter, who is the 26th recipient, is the policy director and deputy chief executive of the Construction Products Association, where he leads the work to ensure that the UK and EU policy and regulatory framework – particularly for technical and sustainability issues – supports a growing and profitable UK construction products industry.

He was formerly technical director at design practice Scott Brownrigg.

Sainsbury’s plans for Perth superstore revived

A major Perth supermarket plan which was scrapped after a legal spat between rival retail giants has been resurrected.

Developers want to renew planning permission for a £40 million store at the old Perth Mart site.

Sainsbury’s had originally staked a claim in the development and said its shop would create more than 400 jobs.

But the chain pulled the plug on the project after a court case with one of its biggest rivals.

Tesco successfully appealed against Perth and Kinross Council’s decision to allow Sainsbury’s to begin work on the former Crieff Road mart before an upgrade of the A9/A85 junction.

Sainsbury’s ruled itself out as a contender for the revived project.

FRP Advisory, which has been appointed administrators, has now applied to the council to renew planning consent which was due to lapse this year.

The bid will be advertised next month and a consultation event is due to be held at McDiarmid Park days later.

Shortage of homes ‘pushing up Scottish house prices’

House prices continued to rise across Scotland last month as supply fell short of demand, according to a report.

The UK Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that housing supply continued to decline, with 21 per cent more respondents reporting a fall in properties coming onto the market in Scotland.

Sales are likely to rise even more in the short term, with 16 per cent more chartered surveyors expecting an increase over the next three months.

RICS said this was due in part to buy-to-let investors moving to purchase property ahead of proposed changes to the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax which will see people buying second homes and buy-to-let landlords facing an additional supplement of 3 per cent of the purchase price from April.

Fallago Rig wind farm seeks operational life extension

One of the most controversial wind farm developments in the Scottish Borders is seeking an extension to its operational life.

The 48-turbine Fallago Rig scheme north of Lauder was approved despite a six-year opposition campaign.

It gained permission to operate for 25 years but EDF Energy wants to bring that into line with a proposed second stage of the development.

If granted it would effectively extend its operational life by five years.

The first phase of the project in the Lammermuir Hills was opposed by a high-profile campaign.

Opponents eventually admitted defeat after a Court of Session ruling which rejected their bid to force a judicial review of approval for the project.

The wind farm was commissioned in 2013 with a condition that it could operate for 25 years - until 2038.

However, proposals are now in the pipeline for a 12-turbine extension.

EDF Energy Renewables has argued that extending the life of the first phase would allow for the whole site to be decommissioned in “one simple, unified phase”.

The Scottish Government will decide whether or not to allow both the expansion of the development and the extension to its years of operation.

Frontline operatives shine bright for local charity

Frontline operatives who have been battling against storms and one of the wettest winters on record have presented the Brightest Star charity with a cheque for £860.

Scotland TranServ operatives were eager to raise funds for the charity, which was formed after Arlene Smith lost her son Jack and now helps to support other bereaved families. Over 300 staff took part in coffee mornings and a raffle draw across their head office and depot in Polmadie, Glasgow and five operational depots in Ayr and Dumfries and Galloway.

Former colleague and Jack’s Grandmother Dot Clark and his Mother, Arlene were on hand to finally receive a cheque from the operatives who have been working round the clock to keep south west Scotland moving during storms Frank, Gertrude and Henry.