Building Briefs – July 14th

Hardies Property & Construction Consultants has been instrumental in bringing 1 Cockburn Street back to its former glory.

The Category B listed building is now the new headquarters for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which relocated from Market Street earlier this year.

Hardies were initially appointed as project managers to support The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo develop a project brief, and to select an appropriate design team, suited to the needs of the project. Once the design team and contractor were appointed, Hardies managed the whole process from start to finish.

Hardies then provided the additional services of Quantity Surveying, Building Surveying and Principal Designer to oversee the external fabric repairs which have transformed the building. Hardies also oversaw the CDM requirements for the project.

Electronics firm to expand Kelso facility

Electronics manufacturer Plexus Corp has announced a new £380,000 investment to add component testing at its manufacturing facility in Kelso.

The US firm is adding a new dedicated building and equipment to conduct Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) - a process to test new and repaired electrical components.

Plexus said the investment will allow it to offer an in-house service offering to customers in the defence, security and aerospace sectors and oil and gas industries.

The company said the dedicated ESS facility will open in September.

Plexus currently employs around 400 people in Kelso and around 80 in Livingston.

Views sought on the Lerwick campus development brief

Shetland Islands Council is seeking the public’s views on a draft Development Brief for the future of the Knab Campus in Lerwick.

The Knab Campus will become vacant towards the end of 2017, once the new Anderson High School and Halls of Residence are completed at the Staney Hill site. The Knab site occupies a prominent position comprising around 6.5 hectares at the south end of Lerwick and contains three listed buildings – the Anderson High School; and the Janet Courtney and Bruce Hostels, which must remain.

Following a previous public visioning exercise in 2014, a general desire has emerged for a well-designed, integrated, residentially compatible mixed use development on this site. Since then, the Planning Service has been working with the various stakeholders to identify not only the constraints, but the opportunities for the site, resulting the creation of the Development Brief which is now out for public consultation.

Comments are now sought on the details of the Development Brief, which will become non-statutory Supplementary Guidance and offer clear guiding principles to developers for any future development.

The Development Brief will be followed by a masterplan, involving further engagement with the public on such matters as specific uses, design details, layouts, open space, landscaping etc.

The consultation document can viewed here where submissions can also be made. The consultation is open until 26th August 2016.

Forces families ‘badly let down’ by standard of housing, MPs say

Armed Forces families have been “badly let down” for years after being provided with homes so bad they often don’t have heating and hot water, according to MPs.

The cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) blamed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and contractor CarillionAmey and said the conditions “may be driving some highly-trained personnel to leave the military”.

CarillionAmey’s performance was found to be “totally unacceptable”, after it failed to carry out small-scale repairs and left families without heating, hot water or cooking facilities.

Although the report is largely focused on MOD housing conditions in England, SNP committee member Deidre Brock requested to be informed about the situation in Scotland, specifically regarding how the MoD explains to the Scottish Parliament how it manages its estate in Scotland.

Council urges residents to report rogue tradesmen

West Dunbartonshire Council has urged residents to report rogue tradesmen after a rise in the number of fly-tipping incidents related to home improvement works.

A significant amount of illegally dumped waste has been discovered in a number of areas across the region, including paving slabs and old garden fences.

The council said while door-to-door traders might carry out any work quickly, it is often not completed to a high standard and its possible rubbish would not be disposed of in a responsible way.

The local authority’s Environmental Pollution Group is working alongside Trading Standards to tackle the problem and raise awareness amongst residents.

A fixed penalty of £200 can be handed out to anyone caught fly-tipping, or if the matter ends up going to court a fine of up to £40,000 or imprisonment can be imposed.

Road maintenance programme to begin in Fife

A major road maintenance programme is due to begin next week in Fife.

The council will begin carrying out carriageway resurfacing and traffic light upgrades on Halbeath Road, between Whitefied Road and Halbeath Retail Park, from Monday, 18 July.

The three-week scheme involves road closures and will take place between 9am – 9pm. Diversions will be in place.

Scotland Transerv to begin £1.3m resurfacing project

Scotland TranServ is to begin a £1.3 million resurfacing project in Dumfries and Galloway.

The four-week scheme includes resurfacing over 2km of the A75 road from Sandgreen Junction to Cardoness Castle. Drainage, barriers and signage will also be renewed as part of the project, which will get underway on Monday, 25 July.

In order to support the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Scotland initiative, the works will be carried out using the environmentally friendly ‘Crack and Seat’ method.

The process uses the existing foundations to rebuild the road surface, reducing the need for heavy goods movements to deliver raw materials and the amount of waste sent to landfill by over 3,000 tonnes.

In addition, the technique can be delivered quicker than traditional methods, reducing the impact to road users.

Work continues on £3m water network upgrade project

Scottish Water is continuing to work on a £3 million waste water network upgrade project in Cambuslang.

Contractors are underway with the next phase of the scheme, which involves upgrading existing sewer pipes on Fraser Street.

In addition, the networks capacity will be increased along Dukes Road, Fraser Street and Whyte Avenue to reduce the risk of pollution to Eastfield Burn.

The overall scheme involves creating new manholes on Glenside Drive as well as installing new combined storm overflow (CSO) systems with integral screens, headwall and outfall pipework.

As result of work on Fraser Street, a section of the road has been closed and diversions are in place.