Building Briefs – January 29th

A charity which supports ex-service men and women has announced plans to build single living apartments on its estate in Bishopton.

Erskine is set to deliver 24 apartments for occupation by single ex-service men and women of working age to help with the ever increasing demand for housing for veterans.

Each apartment will have a double bedroom; living room; en-suite shower room; kitchenette and will be let furnished or unfurnished. There will also be a communal recreation/TV area. Residents will be able to enjoy all the benefits of living on the Erskine Estate including on hand advice and support from staff at the new Erskine Activities Centre, which opened earlier this month, and access to Harry’s Café and the Royal Scots shop in The Erskine Home.

A number of apartments will provide accommodation for veterans working with Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company (SBMC) which is also opening on the estate in June. Renfrewshire-based social enterprise SBMC is projected to help more than 40 ex-servicemen and women every year through direct, flexible employment in the factory producing rail and road signs; wooden products and providing print mail and fulfilment services.

Mactaggart & Mickel site manager reigns supreme across UK

Housebuilder Mactaggart & Mickel Homes is celebrating as one of its site managers has been awarded a prestigious NHBC Pride in the Job Supreme Award – for the fourth time.

The accolade –in the Best Medium Housebuilder category - follows a rigorous 12-month judging process which saw Stuart being assessed against thousands of site managers across the UK.

The year-long judging process has seen NHBC inspectors perform spot checks on sites all over the country. In order to qualify for the Supreme Award, Stuart had to win three earlier rounds.

Ed Monaghan, chief executive of Mactaggart & Mickel Group, said: “My warmest congratulations to Stuart, who has deservedly been recognised for his exceptional leadership and quality of work at Greenan Views in Ayr.

“As a company we’re known for the superior quality of our homes, which is only possible due to the hard work of our site teams at every development. I am immensely proud of Stuart and his colleagues in capping a fantastic year with a fourth Supreme Award.”

The Supreme Awards were announced at a Gala Dinner in London.

Sentence deferred for Fife plant hire firm convicted after employee’s death

A Fife firm convicted after an employee was crushed to death by a lorry will have to wait to learn its fate for breaching health and safety legislation.

Workshop assistant Ian Bratchie, 50, died in the accident on September 3 2015, when he was run over by the HGV in the Lochgelly yard of Robert Purvis Plant Hire.

The company was found guilty of failing to make suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk of vehicles being driven away while they were under maintenance at its premises in Cartmore Industrial Estate between April 2 2012 and September 4 2015.

However, jurors at Dunfermline Sheriff Court delivered a not proven verdict to a second charge — that the firm had failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees.

The company was due to be sentenced on Friday but there was a disagreement over the appropriate level of sentencing.

Sentencing was deferred until February 8 to allow time for “both sides of the bar” to agree on a position, the sheriff added.

Start date for Inshes District Park phase 2

Construction of the second phase of development at Inshes District Park in Inverness will start on February 19.

The £580K contract, awarded to P1 Solutions of Edinburgh in December, will see the construction of an entrance plaza that will form a gathering place at the access from Stevenson Road, a 20 space car park, areas of open space and paths that will meander through the site from the entrance plaza to the existing footbridge over Inshes Road.

This second phase is being constructed in a 6.3ha site set in rising ground between Stevenson Road and Inshes Road. The planned completion date for the works is June 22.

The contractor will be erecting fencing around the site prior to works starting so all pedestrians and cyclists are advised that they should use alternative routes via Stevenson Road and Inshes until the completion of the works.

Funding for the project has come entirely from developer contributions collected over the past number of years as well as active travel funding from SUSTRANS.

More A9 dualling ground investigations to start next week

Further ground investigations are to start on February 5 on two sections of the route, one on the southern stretch between Tay Crossing and Ballinluig and one on the northern section between Tomatin and Moy.

Both sets of works are expected to last around eight weeks.

New build Perth & Kinross Council homes to feature sprinkler systems

Sprinkler systems are to be featured as standard in all new council houses being built in Perth and Kinross, the local authority has announced.

Perth & Kinross Council said sprinklers to suppress fires will be built into all new developments which are currently at design stage and going forward.

Earlier this month, David Stewart, a Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands, proposed to bring forward legislation to make the installation of sprinklers mandatory in all new-build social housing.

A BBC Scotland investigation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed the lives of 71 people in the North Kensington tower block last June, found there are no sprinklers in over 300 high-rise buildings managed by Scottish councils and social landlords.

Break in at Dundee building site

A building site in Dundee has been targeted for the third time in a year.

Police Scotland is appealing for information after a site operated by Sidlaw Building and Joinery Service in Pitalpin Court was broken into at about 4.30am on Thursday.

The trespassers entered by cutting a padlock and forcing a door into the building. An alarm sounded, appearing to chase the intruders off empty handed.

Two men are being sought by police in connection with this incident.

More than £1,000 worth of electrical equipment was thought to have been stolen in a break in at the same site in October.

Maryhill Housing and ENGIE serve up cash boost to help local kids eat well

Schoolchildren in Glasgow got a massive boost this week after healthy eating was put firmly on the menu.

Maryhill Housing and contractor ENGIE came together to deliver the £2500 windfall to St Cuthbert’s Primary and Highpark Primary.

Both are thriving schools in Glasgow’s Ruchill and share the Benview Campus in the community.

Now as part of its commitment to helping communities, ENGIE’s regeneration business (formerly Keepmoat Regeneration) has donated the money along with a further £2500 to community organisation North United Communities.

The money totalling £5000 came about after ENGIE began working for Maryhill Housing - undertaking improvement work to the Association’s housing stock.

As part of the contract there was a requirement for ENGIE to deliver ‘community benefits’.

Both schools were chosen as worthy recipients and plans are already being drawn up to use the money to encourage healthy eating among families and convey the importance of nourishing meals to ensure good health.

DJ Laing Group celebrates Burns in style

The DJ Laing Group in Carnoustie celebrated Robert Burns’ day with a traditional Burns supper.

To mark this fine occasion and celebrate the famous Scottish Poets birthday, members of the team enjoyed a ‘wee bit’ of haggis, neeps and tatties for lunch, with shortbread and tablet for dessert.

The team appreciated traditional poems and tested their knowledge with a Scottish quiz.