Building Briefs – March 13th

McCarthy and Stone Scotland celebrates top customer satisfaction marks for a record tenth year

The Scottish region of retirement housebuilder McCarthy and Stone is celebrating after it achieved a five star customer satisfaction rating for a record tenth consecutive year in an independent survey announced by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) this week.

Highlighting McCarthy and Stone’s commitment to delivering excellent customer service across the business’s various product ranges and regions in the UK, the company is the first housebuilder – of any size or type – to have achieved this award for ten consecutive years in the history of the HBF’s Customer Satisfaction Survey.

The HBF award seeks to recognise customer service excellence across the industry, with particular emphasis on developers’ commitment to guiding home buyers through the purchasing process, including the provision of post-sales support.

Steve Wiseman, regional managing director at McCarthy & Stone Scotland, said: “We are delighted to receive the HBF Customer Service award for the tenth consecutive year – not least because we are the first housebuilder of any size or type to have done so. We would like to personally thank all of our customers across Scotland who have voted to give us this rating. “But the credit for this fantastic achievement really has to go to our committed team operating across our Scottish developments, who provide excellent service each and every day, alongside our construction and management services teams who continue to deliver attractive, high quality Retirement and Assisted Living properties which, as the results show, people are proud to call their home.”

New plans to build 107 homes at Cults

Plans to build more than 100 homes in the west of Aberdeen have been recommended for approval Aberdeen City Council officials.

Cala Homes has applied for permission to build 107 houses and 12 low-cost flats to the north of Friarsfield Road and Kirk Brae, Cults.

The application has been revised from an original submission. The new proposals would be 65 per cent detached, 23 per cent semi-detached and 3 per cent terraced properties. The council’s head of planning, Margaret Bochel, signalled a willingness to accept the plans, subject to the affordable housing provision and contributions towards local schools, sports and health facilities and road improvements.

Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council has objected to the application, along with other private individuals.

The plans will be considered on Thursday.

Fort William climbing centre project raises funds

Hundreds of backers have pledged funds to a plan to convert a former church in Fort William into a climbing centre by helping to raise the money needed.

Three Wise Monkeys Climbing, the business behind the project, had to raise £40,000 in crowd-funding by Wednesday afternoon.

They generated £43,301 from more than 600 backers.

The proposal is to convert Macintosh Memorial Church near Fort William’s High Street in stages.

A bouldering wall would be created first, followed by a cafe, then a roped climbing wall and extra bouldering wall training room.

Three Wise Monkeys Climbing had already raised £30,000 towards the project’s costs.

Scottish Borders Council proposes ‘local approach’ to planning

The Scottish Borders Council is hoping to precipitate a “local approach” to planning at the executive committee’s next meeting in Jedburgh Town Hall.

Members of the public are invited to come along to the event at 10:00 on Tuesday 24 March, where the committee will discuss and vote on proposals for taking a more co-ordinated approach to planning and delivering services across local areas.

The executive will look at how the five area forums – Berwickshire, Cheviot, Eildon, Teviot and Liddesdale, and Tweeddale – operate and how to involve a stakeholders about issues affecting their local area.

The council said it would trial the approach in Cheviot, covering Jedburgh, Kelso and surrounding areas, with the intention of rolling it out to other localities across the Borders.

Members of the public can also come along to Jedburgh Town Hall from 13:00 onwards to hear more about the proposals.

Warning over future of Carnsalloch House in Dumfries

A dilapidated historic mansion in Dumfries may not survive another five years without extensive renovation, its owner has warned.

Carnsalloch House has lain empty since around 2000 and has fallen into a state of serious disrepair.

Owner Ian Foster has applied to build six homes close to the building to fund the renovation of the house.

However, planners have raised concerns that proposals do not meet a “high standard” of design.

At a meeting of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s local review body, councillors asked for clarification from planning officials and Historic Scotland over the design issue.

Mr Foster, who is an architect, welcomed their decision to call for more evidence but warned that lengthy delays could be disastrous for the Kirkton property.

He said it suffers from weather penetration but they cannot fix the roof without council permission.

It has also been targeted by vandals and last week a fire at the property destroyed an annexe built in the 1970s.

The building is now on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.

Regeneration for Selkirk’s Sir Walter Scott courthouse

A courthouse where Sir Walter Scott dispensed justice could be redeveloped to house a library and contact centre.

The landmark building in Selkirk is at the centre of a project to improve the “vitality and vibrancy” of the town centre, according to local councillors.

The local authority has also acquired the Cross Keys pub and a home next to the court house which will be part of the development.

A consultation event will be held at the end of March.

In a joint statement the three Selkirkshire councillors Michelle Ballantyne, Vicky Davidson and Gordon Edgar said the acquisition of additional buildings had opened up the potential of the redevelopment of the Sir Walter Scott Courthouse.

Drop in consultation sessions for people including local businesses and community groups will be held at the Cross Keys regeneration hub on 26 March and 31 March.

Historic Scotland awarded £750,000 to the scheme in 2013 while the council committed £450,000 to the project.

New sustainable development aims to help drive economic Perth’s growth

A new vision for a residential settlement called Almond Valley, which will be integrated into a rural setting on the north west edge of Perth, could help meet the city’s housing shortfall and deliver economic growth to Scotland’s newest city, according to Savills Rural.

Almond Valley is a 160 acre site, located adjacent to Ruthvenfield and Huntingtowerfield, on which a diverse yet complementary range of housing would form an attractive settlement.

While there is scope for 1500 homes, there is a focus on a diverse yet complementary range of house styles laid out in tree lined zones to form an attractive settlement. The vision also includes a state-of-the art new primary school, a community centre, leisure facilities, cycle paths and walkways.

The new masterplan was outlined to Perth & Kinross Council on Monday 9th March, after which an informal presentation was delivered to the Methven District Community Council. These briefings follow consultation with the local community, including two public events held at the nearby Huntingtower Hotel towards the end of last year.

Initial planning permission for Almond Valley was refused in 2012 but after careful consideration by Scottish Ministers, Almond Valley was re-allocated for development.

Morrisons to cut capital programme by 25 per cent

Supermarket giant Morrisons is to slash its construction programme even further following the announcement it fell to an £800 million loss for the year to February 2015.

The firm said capital expenditure for the current year would fall by around a quarter, from £520m to £400m, with a big slowdown in the planned opening of new convenience stores, and a continuation of its policy of only opening new major stores “in exceptional circumstances”. This is further to the dramatic fall in capital spend last year, when it fell by more than 50 per cent from almost £1.1bn.

The overall loss was partly caused by a massive £1.3bn write-down due to the falling value of its property assets, and partly caused by an underlying drop in pre-tax profitability of 52 per cent, to £345m.