Building Briefs – March 17th

River Clyde Homes hands over keys at new housing development

River Clyde Homes (RCH) has completed its latest development of new homes in Inverclyde.

The keys for last of these 16 new homes were handed over to customers by the minister for housing and welfare Margaret Burgess MSP on Tuesday 15 March, less than one year after works began.

The £2 million development, on Brightside Avenue in the Woodhall area of Port Glasgow, was built by CCG (Scotland) Ltd and designed by Barham Glen Architects. This third phase of new homes in Woodhall brings the total of new homes built by RCH in Inverclyde to 498 since 2010.

Aldi supermarket for Montrose approved

Montrose is in line for a retail and employment boost as a new supermarket has been approved for the town.

German giant Aldi has been given the nod to move on to the former Co-op site in Basin View, next to the train station.

The Co-op closed last year with the loss of 37 jobs.

Planners have been given permission to demolish the shell and build a new store around three quarters of the size of the original.

The new venture will restore 30 full-time posts, according to the firm.

£5m boost for two new Scottish hydropower schemes

Albion Community Power (ACP) has committed close to £5m to the development of two new hydropower schemes in the Scottish Highlands.

The two run-of-river schemes – Liatre Burn, on the Glen Cannich estate, and Abhainn Bruachaig, near Kinlochewe – will generate approximately 2.8 GWh of renewable electricity per year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 700 homes.

ACP is a power generation company that builds, controls and operates community-scale energy projects across the UK. The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) and Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) are investors in the company.

The 500 kW high-head Liatre Burn scheme is located near Loch Mullardoch in Glen Cannich, some 35km south-west of Inverness whilst Bruachaig is a medium-head 500 kW run-of-river scheme located close to Kinlochewe in the western highlands. Construction of both projects is already underway with completion of the construction programme and commissioning of the schemes anticipated before the end of the year.

They are the third and fourth community-scale Scottish hydro projects that ACP is developing. Construction of the first two schemes – Chaorach, near Crianlarich, and River Arkaig, in Lochaber – is in advanced stages and both are expected to be fully commissioned by the end of Q3 2016.

Development proposals for the Waulkmill area of Elgin go on show this week

New development proposals for the Waulkmill area of Elgin will be subject to a public consultation starting this week.

In a partnership between Springfield Properties and Moray Council’s Lands and Parks department, two potential concept redevelopment options are being proposed.

The proposals seek to address long standing problems currently affecting residents and provide new and improved areas of open space.

A low-density residential development is also being proposed in the area of land containing the existing playpark.

The consultation follows the revocation of the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) at Waulkmill Grove by the council last February.

Scottish Household Survey savings consultation opens

The Scottish Government is consulting on a number of options to achieve savings for the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) in 2017 and beyond.

The annual survey, which has run since 199, provides detailed national and local authority level data on people in Scotland.

It is used as a unique source of essential trend data and evidence for a wide range of policy areas including housing, transport, local government services, health and physical activity, neighbourhoods and communities, the local environment and sport and culture.

Unveiled as part of Scotland’s Spending Plans and Budget for 2016/17, the level of savings sought will require significant changes to the design of the SHS, the government said.

Users and stakeholders’ views are being sought on two alternative options:

Option A

Biennial topics, i.e. halving the number of topics covered by the survey every year and collecting data on each topic every second year, with a small reduction in sample size (from 10,700 to 10,100).

Option B

Reduction of the overall survey sample size by around a third, from 10,700 to 7,450, with a small reduction in topics covered by the survey.

Respondents’ views will also be used to inform the design of SHS 2018-2021.

Respond online here

Revised Sandy Knowe wind farm bid rejection advised

Revised plans for a 24-turbine wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway have been recommended for refusal by planning officers.

The Scottish Government previously rejected a 30-turbine bid at Sandy Knowe near Kirkconnel.

The revised project has received more than 100 letters of support and has two community councils’ backing.

However, planning officers said it would still have a significant adverse impact on the area.

They have recommended councillors refuse the application.

Taylor Wimpey claims ‘constructive discussions’ with community over plans for 1,400 homes at Halbeath

The company behind a massive proposed development at Halbeath claims it is pleased with how the community consultation process has gone so far.

Taylor Wimpey East Scotland wants to create a residential development on land to the north of the Fife village.

The Dunfermline-based company is preparing plans to deliver around 1,400 homes, of which a quarter will be classed ‘affordable’.

Representatives from Bellyeoman Community Council, Halbeath and Duloch Community Council, Halbeath Residents and Tenants Association, Kingseat Community Council, Long Row Improvement Group and Townhill Community Council were present.

As the second part of this process the company will be hosting a world cafe event from 10am to 12.30pm on Saturday in Carnegie Conference Centre.