Building Briefs – January 31st

NORR announces move to Skypark in Glasgow

International architecture firm NORR is to move in to a new office in Skypark 5 in Glasgow.

NORR has agreed to take 6,312 sq. ft. of office space on a 10 year lease that will take effect from February.

Bob Hall, managing director of NORR, said: “Having spent 15 years in the area we are delighted that moving to Skypark 5 has enabled us to remain part of the growing and vibrant business community now established in Finnieston.”

Quality really matters to TÜV SÜD

The real estate division of TÜV SÜD in the UK has successfully upgraded to the new Quality Management System ISO 9001:2015 and the Environmental Management System ISO 14001:2015 standards.

The integrated management system operated by the business also includes the Occupational Health and Safety Management System BS OHSAS 18001:2007.

John Green, quality manager of TÜV SÜD Services (UK), is responsible for maintaining the integrated management systems.

He said: “Following a rigorous assessment by NQA, we are delighted to have again successfully achieved these new higher standards, and it is testament to the hard work of all our teams throughout the UK and Ireland. The Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety Management Systems are now fully integrated and aligned with the strategies of our business.”

Paul McDevitt, business & staff development director, added: “Achieving the 2015 Standards reinforces our commitment to our core value of consistently delivering a quality product and service to our clients.”

Culloden housing application deferred over designs and conservation issues

The Highland Council has deferred a decision on a planning application for 16 new homes at the site of Viewhill in Inverness to allow the developer to ensure the house designs “better reflect the Highland context and conservation”.

Kirkwood Homes had planned to develop the homes on a site within the boundary of the Culloden (Battlefield) Conservation Area and Historic Scotland’s Inventory of Historic Battlefields.

Members of the local authority’s south planning applications committee approved a motion by Councillor Andrew Jarvie and seconded by Councillor Carolyn Caddick (both Inverness South Ward Members) to: “….defer the application for houses to give the developer an opportunity to revisit the finishes and the house designs to better reflect the Highland context and conservation area, in particular with regard to the use of external materials; proportions of the roofs to walls and external details”.

Regarding the application for ‘Amendment to road layout and drainage infrastructure’, councillors agreed to approve and grant the application subject to a suspensive condition preventing commencement of the road works until planning permission for the housing design has been granted.

Any future applications on the development proposal would come back to the council’s south planning applications committee for consideration.

Junction improvement works to busy Elgin roundabout

Junction improvement works to one of the busiest roundabouts in Elgin is starting at the end of next month.

Traffic lights are being introduced to the junction of Hay Street, Northfield Terrace and South Street which is currently a mini-roundabout.

The improvement is a result of consultation with the public on the new Elgin Transport Strategy, which identified the junction as requiring the change.

Diversions will be in place as each branch of the roundabout is closed for the installation works to be completed. Once installed, the junction will change to a crossroads, with ‘smart’ traffic lights that can be programmed to alter traffic flows at peak times.

The works are expected to take a maximum of 12 weeks to complete.

Peebles to benefit from new project to reduce energy costs

Peebles householders, businesses and community groups can benefit from a new energy cost reduction project that has been launched in the town.

Change Works in Peebles aims to reduce gas and electricity usage and energy bills, improve warmth in local homes and trial new approaches to improve energy efficiency.

An advice hub will be opened at the Old Corn Exchange on Peebles High Street next month to enable people to drop in to find out about the help available.

This pilot project, funded by Scottish Government, Changeworks and Scottish Borders Council will also look to improve greener living and working in the area.

North Ayrshire Council’s planning team named ‘best performing in Scotland’

A Scottish Government assessment of North Ayrshire Council’s planning team has concluded that it provides the best service of any in Scotland.

Councillors heard of the outstanding, fast and effective service when the report was discussed at a meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday.

The team are assessed on 15 key criteria – with the council receiving the best mark (Green) in 12 of these.

The report praised the way the council have cut out the need for time-consuming legal agreements which can delay applications.

The council also met timescales for seven major developments and the Scottish Government also acknowledged that the local development plan was up to date.

There was also recognition of the work done to train councillors on the planning processes, while the work that North Ayrshire carried out with other local authorities was also highlighted.

All 32 Scottish local authorities are asked to produce an ‘annual return’ each year monitoring themselves against key performance indicators.

North Ayrshire approved its Planning Performance Framework (PPF) and submitted to the Scottish Government for feedback and a review.

The PPF showed that it takes North Ayrshire Council 13.3 weeks to process planning applications for major developments – a massive improvement on the previous year’s figure of 26.7 weeks and significantly faster than the latest Scottish average of 34.2 weeks.

The average time to give decisions on local developments has remained steady at 5.9 weeks and decisions on householder developments has reduced slightly to 4.6 weeks, with 100 per cent being determined within two months.

In what has been a successful 18 months, the Planning Service picked up awards at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning for Saltcoats Town Hall and Meikle Auchengree, as well as a commendation at the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence for its work on Saltcoats Town Hall.

And most recently the service was awarded for its work in developing a number of town centre audits.

Former Clydesdale Bank in Linlithgow to be redeveloped

Plans have been approved for redevelop a former bank in Linlithgow.

The old Clydesdale bank on Linlithgow High Street, which closed in 2012 due to significant building repairs, is to be transformed into a restaurant/café.

Features include reinstating the original windows and replacing the shop front, while the exterior of the building will be replaced with a more traditional shop frontage that is in keeping with the high street and similar properties in the area.

More than £2m invested in Renfrewshire’s play parks and open spaces

More than £2 million has been invested to upgrade play parks and open spaces across Renfrewshire.

Two wheelchair-accessible swings have been installed in Paisley’s Barshaw Park and Renfrew’s Robertson Park, while new modern playgrounds have been developed at each site to improve children’s health, learning and social inclusion.

In addition, a world-first castle structure has been developed in Robertson Park. The unique three-tower construction contains containing a rappelling wall, rung ladder, hand over hand monkey bars, vertical climbing net and two separate styles of rope traverse.

Other features include significant upgrades made to pathways, roads and drainage systems.

A further £250,000 is set to be invested in five neighbourhood parks to enhance the visitor experience. Planning is underway to identify which parks will receive part of the funding, with works expected to take place during 2018.

Plans approved to redevelop historic Kingussie farm buildings

Plans have been approved to redevelop historic farm buildings near Kingussie in the Highlands.

Balavil Estate is proposing to transform the Balavil Mains Farmhouse’s traditional farm buildings as well as building new properties to create a shop, café and visitor facilities.

The site’s listed farmhouse and steadings will be converted as well as extended to house office facilities and a shop. A new building will also be erected to the north of the site which will become a café and offer visitor facilities and a former mill building will be extended to provide space to host events. Other features include the formation of a car parking area and plans for staff facilities and bike storage.

Cairngorms National Park Authority’s planning officer Katherine Donnachie has recommended the development for approval, subject to various conditions.

A motion had been proposed to refuse the planning application based on concerns around economic impacts on nearby communities but this was defeated by 14 votes to two.

£2.8m invested to upgrade Cumbernauld water mains network

Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) has completed work on a £2.8 million water mains upgrade project in Cumbernauld.

The Scottish Water investment involved installing a new 1.2 mile stretch of water main along Forest Road from its junction with Arns Road to the ramp of the B8045.

In May last year, a burst water main in the area caused disruption to normal water supplies for around 6,000 customers.

Road works to begin on A90 at Findon

Road works are scheduled to take place on the A90 main carriageway northbound near Aberdeen.

The contractor will start installing permanent signage at Findon to enhance the safety of workers operating in the area from 8pm on Friday, 02 February until 6am on Monday, 05 February.

The scheme is part of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty project (AWPR/B-T) works.