Building Briefs – June 6th

Housebuilder Charles Church is to launch a development of four and five bedroom homes in Haddington this weekend.

The firm is currently building the collection of 35 executive homes at Moncrieff Meadows at Gateside West.

Located on the edge of Haddington the new properties are flooded with light with high ceilings and sweeping staircases. At the heart of the home, the kitchen diner comes equipped with high quality appliances and a choice of kitchen styles and designs

Housing plan lodged for Errol Airfield site

Plans have been lodged for a housing development to be built on a 58 hectare site at Errol Airfield on the outskirts of Dundee.

If approved, the Morris Leslie Group proposals will see 240 new houses built, including 60 affordable homes.

Perth and Kinross Council granted planning permission in principle to the developers back in October 2010 for a mixed use development at Errol Airfield.

The Carse of Gowrie plan also contains details of plots for commercial use and the scheme would link Errol to the new housing through a network of green spaces and upgraded paths.

Councillor Mac Roberts, who is one of the representatives for the Carse of Gowrie ward, told The Courier: “Planning permission has been renewed at five yearly intervals.

“I believe that no developer was interested in the site but perhaps that has now changed. I believe that the development was originally for some 240 houses, 25 per cent of which were to be affordable and also light industrial use.”

While the two main entrance points into the site will be retained for the time being, a separate planning application will be submitted shortly for a new western access gateway. This is aimed to improve vehicular, cycle and pedestrian links.

The proposal has been discussed with the council, Errol Community Council and the Carse Sustainability Group.

MoD urged to use empty homes to tackle Fife housing shortage

Empty properties owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Fife should be released to help tackle the region’s housing crisis, according to a local councillor.

Figures released by the MoD have revealed that there are 221 military homes currently lying empty in the region, where RAF Leuchars was closed and handed to the army in 2015, even though there are said to be more than 10,000 people on the housing waiting list in the Kingdom.

The 221 properties – most of which are in Leuchars – are among the 10,219 homes across the UK classed as “void” by the MoD, which means they are either unallocated, being maintained, refurbished or waiting to be sold or demolished.

Nearly half of those – 4,623 – have been empty for more than 12 months.

Local councillor Tim Brett said he had been aware of the situation at Leuchars for some time and hopes some sort of proposal can be drawn up to address the issue.

Firm to appeal after Arbroath Abbey wind turbine plan rejected

A company has launched an appeal over the refusal of planning permission for a wind turbine which objectors claim would ruin the view of Arbroath Abbey.

The proposed turbine would have been on the south-west corner of Bairds Malt’s Arbroath malting plant, with a height of 252 feet - over 30 foot higher than the national Wallace Monument.

Prior to the refusal by Angus Council, the authority’s countryside officer, Stewart Roberts, warned the proposed turbine would adversely affect the setting of Arbroath and landmarks such as the historic abbey.

The report also stated that the single turbine at Bairds Malt on Elliot Industrial Estate would “dominate houses and have an overbearing effect”.

The proposed turbine was refused under delegated powers following 141 letters of objection.

Today Bairds Malt claimed any effect on historic vistas of the Abbey, where Bernard of Kilwinning, then Chancellor of Scotland and Abbot of Arbroath wrote the Declaration of Arbrotah, were “unavoidable but not unacceptable”, and insisted it had “a strong appeal case”.

Stirling pupils get hands on for building skills

Pupils from three Stirling high schools got the chance to try their hand at traditional building skills recently.

Aimed at getting pupils to consider building as a viable career option students from Bannockburn, St Modan’s and Stirling High Schools paid a morning visit to Stirling Castle last month to see examples of the kind of work they could be involved in.

They then headed out to local masonry firm Tradstocks in Thornhill, where they got the chance to try their hands at stonemasonry, joinery, roof slating and painting and decorating.

The event was run by the Forth Valley Traditional Building Forum with input from Stirling Council, Falkirk Council, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Forth Valley College and other partners.