Building Briefs – January 22nd

Sportscotland has granted a £500,000 cash boost towards a sports facility project in East Dunbartonshire.

The community sport hub is being developed in partnership with the council and the East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture (EDLC) Trust at Huntershill.

It includes a full-size all-weather sports pitch with floodlighting and fencing, a sports pavilion with 10 changing rooms, a recreation hall, three floodlit all-weather tennis courts and a six-lane athletics track.

Along with external funding, the project is supported by East Dunbartonshire Council’s capital programme.

Councillors recommended to approve Stonehaven flood protection scheme

The progression of a £16 million scheme to protect Stonehaven from future flooding is set to be approved by Aberdeenshire Council next week.

The Stonehaven Flood Protection Scheme is designed to reduce risk in the lower catchment of the River Carron, which has badly flooded nearby homes and businesses in the past.

Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee has been recommended to make a preliminary decision that the proposed scheme should go ahead with mitigation.

Recently, the proposed measures have been subject to public consultation, when eleven objections were received.

Officers involved in the project entered into negotiations with some objectors to try to address the issues they raised and if possible, modified the proposals to reach a suitable solution for all parties.

A number of the proposed modifications could result in the removal of several of the eleven outstanding objections. Councillors are being asked to approve progression of the scheme with the modifications and notify Scottish Ministers of their decision.

Design work has been progressing on the project since councillors gave the go-ahead in December 2013.

The council’s policy and resources committee previously gave approval for funding of the scheme at an estimated value of £14-16m.

It also agreed to continue to pursue all possible funding opportunities from the Scottish Government.

SEPA publishes guidance on natural flood management

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published a new handbook to help local authorities and landowners implement natural flood management measures.

The Natural Flood Management Handbook was launched at an event held by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. The impact of recent flooding has shown that new ways to manage flooding are needed, and the handbook details how natural flood management can contribute, as part of a suite of measures, to help reduce the impact of frequent flooding on a smaller scale.

A key element of sustainable flood risk management involves finding ways to manage flooding at its source, rather than solely focusing on traditional engineering further down the catchment. This can include, for example, riparian planting, reinstating flood plains, restoring coastal areas or returning watercourses back to their natural shape.

These measures can play an important role in reducing flooding during smaller, more frequent, events while simultaneously delivering many other benefits.

SEPA has responsibility, under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, for co-ordinating the delivery of sustainable flood management in Scotland, and in particular to set objectives and identify actions to manage flood risk with relevant partner organisations, including natural flood management.

Edinburgh overtakes Aberdeen as Scotland’s most expensive rent city

As the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill continues to pass through the Scottish Parliament, which includes calls for caps in ‘rent pressure zones’, the market continues to ease with the latest Citylets Quarterly Report showing that average rents have fallen again, now at £747 per month- down from £757.

Annual growth has also again slowed from 2.9 per cent as at Q3 2015 to 2 per cent as two powerful and competing forces from the Aberdeen and Edinburgh markets continue to battle it out for primary influencer on the national figures.

Average rents in Aberdeen have fallen a significant 15.9 per cent over the last year. With oil prices around the $30 mark and with yet more supply from Iran now on-stream there is every reason to believe that the North East property market has further to fall and drag the national average down with it.

Edinburgh average rents now stand at £951 per month with positive gains recorded for all property types. The Citylets Edinburgh index stands at an all time high.

Glasgow continues to edge up steadily at 4.2 per cent breaking the £700 barrier to average £701 per month. Properties are also moving faster now, typically taking just 21 days to rent.

Aberdeen’s downward curve has steepened and falls are almost certain to continue throughout 2016 and beyond. Average rents are now £934 per month with average time to let lengthening to 46 days.

The Dundee market enjoyed more marked positive annual growth than in recent quarters, up 4.6 per cent to average £570 per month.