Building Briefs – July 15th

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal officially opened a new £1.6 million council housing development in Coatbridge yesterday.

Princess Anne unveiled a commemorative plaque and spoke to residents at the site in Summerlee Street where 14 new homes have been built.

The site has 14 cottage flats, each with two bedrooms and is part of North Lanarkshire Council’s ‘Building for the Future’ house building programme. The £172m programme is delivering 1,150 new homes across the North Lanarkshire area by 2021.

The new homes include features to suit people with mobility difficulties and can be easily adapted to meet a household’s changing needs. They are built with safety and security in mind and have a good eco rating, providing value for money heating for tenants.

The Scottish Government is contributing £420,000 towards the development costs of this project which was delivered by Wates Construction.

Over £200m to improve roads in Dumfries and Galloway

The cost of bringing all council-maintained roads up to standard in Dumfries and Galloway has been estimated at £216 million.

Four years ago councillors were told the figure stood at £116m.

The new estimate emerged in a meeting where local members also heard there was an increase in the rate of deterioration of local A roads last year.

The region’s annual roads budget is just over £10m.

According to the latest condition survey of local roads, almost 36 per cent of the routes are in need of attention.

Across Scotland, about 29 per cent of A roads require work.

In 2013/14, 34.8 per cent of carriageways in Dumfries and Galloway were considered for maintenance treatment.

Hydro scheme plan for Glenmuckloch opencast revealed

Plans to build a major hydro scheme on the site of an opencast mine in the south of Scotland have been revealed.

Developers claim the 100MW project at Glenmuckloch, near Kirckconnel, could generate power for more than a century.

It is the latest in a series of renewable energy schemes planned for the site, which is owned by Buccleuch Estates.

They are part of a project to redevelop the opencast mine as Glenmuckloch Energy Park.

Water firm completes £420,000 flood project

A £420,000 project to prevent flooding has been completed.

Scottish Water has installed a new sewer and eight manholes along Park Crescent and Woodmill Park in Torrance as part of their plan to protect homes from flooding.

The scheme, which took five months to complete, will protect two homes previously affected by flooding in storm conditions.

Bosses also say it will reduce the risk of sewer flooding which has affected home owners in the area.

Dundee’s Murraygate to welcome new infill retail

Plans have emerged for the reconstruction of fire damaged retail premises on Dundee’s Murraygate, within the city’s Central Conservation Area, including a rear extension to one of the area’s few remaining wynd’s.

Designed by 3DReid Architects on behalf of The Northumberland Estates the scheme will stretch to three storeys and basement offering 12,200sq/ft of space.

West Dunbartonshire residents invited to update on Mitchell Way development proposals

West Dunbartonshire Council is holding an event to update the community on the plans for the Mitchell Way site in Alexandria.

The demolition of numbers 30-40 Mitchell Way will be undertaken this current financial year as part of advance works taking place relating to the redevelopment of the area.

Residents will have the chance to listen a presentation about the plans before taking part in a question and answer session.

The event starts at 6pm on Wednesday 29 July at the Community Education Centre on Main Street, Alexandria.

A preferred developer had previously been selected for the site, but due to a downturn in the grocery food retail sector, the developer was unable to deliver on their scheme.

The council has now proactively approved a different approach which will allow developers to submit new proposals which suit the market demand and deliver a good regeneration outcome for the town centre.

In addition, the council has also now committed to undertaking improvements to land out with the new site.

Continued increase in number of Scottish households

The number of households in Scotland has continued to increase, according to figures based on a publication released by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

‘Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2014’, found that there were a record 2.42 million households in 2014, up 0.8 per cent since 2013 and an increase of around 169,000 households (7 per cent) over the last 10 years.

Almost all council areas saw an increase in household numbers between 2013 and 2014. However Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire and Eilean Siar saw slight reductions. The overall number of dwellings (including vacant properties and second homes) rose in all council areas in 2014 except West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde. Both of these areas had carried out demolitions as part of regeneration projects.

In Scotland as a whole, 2.9 per cent dwellings were vacant and 1.1 per were second homes, with the latter concentrated in more rural areas.

Plans for new Knocknalling wind farm revealed

Plans have drawn up for a new wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway.

Developers want to construct up to 14 turbines on a site between St John’s Town of Dalry and Carsphairn.

North Galloway Wind Energy, a subsidiary of West Coast Energy, claims that Knocknalling wind farm could generate 44.8MW of energy over its 25-year life span.

A scoping report for the project has been submitted to Dumfries and Galloway Council.

It has laid out plans to erect the 150m (492ft) tall turbines over a 12-month construction period.