Building Briefs – March 22nd

More funding for landmark projects in Ayr town centre

Plans to regenerate several key sites in Ayr have received further backing from South Ayrshire Council.

A one year business plan has been approved for Ayr Renaissance which commits £269,000 for 2018/19 on projects aimed at transforming the heart of the town.

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This coincides with revised plans being submitted for the council’s proposed Riverside Office development on High Street. The £11 million project will have capacity for 350 workers and creating a new public space.

A planning application was submitted for the project in January 2018, with strong public feedback commenting on the proposals. As a consequence further consideration has been given to enhance the design. The revised proposals for the south and west elevations has changed the layout of the top floor to create a step back between the top two floors.

Also being progressed, is the council’s new scheme for the old Ayr Academy that will see it redeveloped as a replacement Ayr Grammar and new Archives and Registration facility.

To showcase work underway, or planned for Ayr, a public exhibition will take place on Tuesday 27, Wednesday 28 of March and Tuesday, 3 April, in Ayr Town Hall from 11:00am-8:00pm. This will provide an opportunity to see the work that is being progressed in Ayr together with designs and drawings, with staff on hand to discuss the projects in more detail.

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Major slope works on A77 finished

Complex work to stabilise the embankment that supports the A77 near Cairnryan has been completed, improving one of the key routes to the Irish Sea ferry ports and the essential trunk road connection linking people in the South West with the rest of Scotland.

It follows a pledge by transport minister Humza Yousaf at the South West inaugural transport summit to review the programme for delivery as a priority.

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The Scottish Government said it remains committed to improving connections in the region with a detailed study due to get under way shortly to consider the rationale for transport improvements in the region, including the A77.

 

Rural Stirling and Mactaggart & Mickel link up to build new homes in Killearn

New affordable homes are to be constructed in Killearn as part of a new partnership between Rural Stirling Housing Association and Mactaggart & Mickel Contracts.

A total of 35 new homes will be built on the Blairessan site off Station Road, including 12 affordable homes to be delivered for Rural Stirling Housing Association.

The new partnership builds on Rural Stirling Housing Association’s success in providing new affordable homes in rural communities and is the first time that Mactaggart & Mickel has built properties in Killearn.

Due to be ready for occupancy later this year, the affordable homes – a mix of apartments, cottages, semi-detached and terraced houses - will be part of a wider development of private housing by the housebuilder.

Buchanan Views will consist of 23 three-to-five bedroom homes from the company’s Design Collection.

 

Barratt Homes delivers site safety talk to Battlefield Primary School

Barratt hosted an interactive site safety discussion with Battlefield Primary School in Glasgow’s south side this week to remind youngsters of the dangers within its nearby live construction development.

The visit formed part of a series of site safety workshops that will take place ahead of the builder’s new site launching at Riverside at Cathcart.

The Site Safety Roadshow has seen Stewart Ponton, safety, health and environment manager for Barratt Developments PLC, and his team of construction site experts deliver 40 minute interactive presentation which have included a video, question and answer session, kids sized personal protection equipment (PPE) for the children to try on as well as an information pack for school staff to distribute to pupils and parents as they see fit.

Riverside at Cathcart is the housebuilder’s most recent development to take shape in Glasgow. On completion, the site will have a selection of two, three, and four bedroom homes.

 

BSW Timber welcomed Paul Wheelhouse MSP for Scottish Apprenticeship Week

BSW Timber apprentices were joined by final year students from Earlston High School to celebrate Scottish Apprenticeship Week with a visit from Paul Wheelhouse MSP.

The students and apprentices benefited from a meet and greet session with the Scottish Member of Parliament.

BSW Timber provides apprenticeship and graduate programmes for young people and is currently recruiting for mechanical and electrical engineering apprentices at their mills in Fort William and Newbridge .

Apprentices at BSW’s Dalbeattie site also benefited from a visit from Emma Harper MSP during Scottish Apprenticeship Week, and apprentices from Fort William took part in a variety of events and activities including a DIY challenge at Drummond School and a visit to Inverness College to promote work within the STEM industries.

BSW has also recently launched the UK’s first Saw Doctor Apprenticeship in partnership with Inverness College that will take as first induction seven new students.

 

Loretto Housing reassures tenants after building site fire

Loretto Housing has reassured tenants there will be no delays to the delivery of new homes after a fire at a building site this week.

A fire in a small section of the site at Wallacewell Quadrant, Balornock, on Monday evening destroyed four cottage flats which were under construction.

Contractors McTaggart were back working on the site at 10am the next morning, and security has also been stepped up.

Work had started on the 44 new homes for Loretto Housing, part of Wheatley Group, last summer.

David Fletcher, Wheatley Group director of regeneration, said: “Despite this setback, we are working closely with our partners McTaggarts to make sure these much-needed affordable homes will be delivered on time.”

The homes, a mix of houses and flats for social rent, had not yet been allocated to tenants.

They are still on course to be ready by February next year.

 

Green light for £2m expansion at Angus leisure complex

Planners have given the go-ahead to 20 new luxury chalets at Piperdam in the latest seven-figure investment at the resort.

The near-£2 million project was approved under delegated powers by Angus Council for a scheme which owner Coppergreen Developments hopes will boost visitor numbers by 8,000 annually, generating an additional £300,000 for the local economy.

The Sheffield-based company bought Piperdam, at Fowlis near Dundee, and the adjacent Blacklaw Estate in a £25m deal in late 2016, with £2m invested in the facility in the first year of ownership.

The new chalets will be built immediately to the south of the majority of the existing lodges on ground formerly used as a golf driving range.

A new access track will be formed for the mix of one, two and threebedroomed single-storey chalets.

 

Aberdeen’s newest town shortlisted for prestigious national awards

Countesswells has been shortlisted for four awards at the national Planning Awards.

Aberdeen’s new community, which represents a £800 million investment in the region, has received the most nominations out of all the entrants and is the most successful Scottish project to reach the final stages.

Countesswells has been shortlisted in the categories for Best Housing Scheme (500 homes or more), Design Excellence, Plan-making and, a new award for 2018, Planning for Increased Housing Delivery.

Organised by Planning magazine, the Awards recognise excellence in both planning and placemaking, and reward distinction in urban design, economic development, housing, regeneration, legal advice and environmental consulting.

Attended by more than 300 industry professionals, the awards ceremony itself will take place in central London on 6 June 2018.

Countesswells is being taken forward by CDL (Countesswells Development Limited), a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Milne Group.

 

Public invited to view housing plan for former Fife maternity hospital

Plans have been to develop around 59 new homes at the site of a former Fife maternity hospital.

Proposals by AEL Developments Limited and NHS Fife for Kirkcaldy’s Forth Park Hospital are to be showcased to the public at an exhibition today ahead of a formal planning application being lodged later this year.

The prospective developers have tabled a Proposal of Application Notice for a residential development of around 55-60 new homes, as well as vehicular access, open space and landscaping on the Bennochy Road site.

The property has been vacant since the buildings were cleared of all medical and office equipment after it closed in January 2012. Various attempts to make use of the existing buildings – including the B-listed mansion house building and separate B-listed stable block – have come and gone. The hospital and its grounds were previously marketed with the benefit of conditional planning permission in principle for 69 homes, but that permission has since lapsed.

AEL Developments said it intends to submit an application for full planning permission in around three months time.

The information event will take place at The Steadings in Bennochy Road from 2.00 to 8.00 pm.

 

Housing provision ‘leaving Scottish wheelchair users behind’

Over 17,200 wheelchair users in Scotland do not have a suitable home and this unmet need is set to increase by 80% by 2024, according to new research.

A major new report published by Horizon Housing Association and North Star Consulting and Research estimates that there are 87,340 wheelchair users in Scotland (3.6% of all households). Of these, one in four indoor wheelchair users say their home is not suitable for their needs.

‘Still minding the step? A new estimation of housing need among wheelchair users in Scotland’ also estimates that 17,226 wheelchair user households across Scotland are in significant housing need (19.1% of all wheelchair user households).

The report, which has been endorsed by CIH Scotland, also projects a sharp rise in the number of wheelchair users by 2024/25 based on current health trends. It highlights the diversity of circumstances of wheelchair users and makes recommendations for a three tier approach to addressing need, which it says should include the design and supply of new homes, adaptations and effective allocation of adapted rented housing.

Among its recommendations, the publication suggests how local authorities can better assess housing need among wheelchair users in their area, and urges the Scottish Government to set a national guideline target that 10% of new homes are built to wheelchair accessible standards.

 

Govanhill Baths receives funding boost from Mactaggart & Mickel Homes

The Govanhill Baths Community Trust has received a donation of £1,000 from family housebuilder Mactaggart & Mickel Homes’ Building Communities Fund.

The Trust has worked hard for the past 17 years to save the Baths, one of the city’s most beloved buildings, and transform it into a community hub providing health and wellbeing initiatives, physical and sporting activities and major arts and craft festivals. This work has been possible through a tireless commitment by the local community to preserve the building for future generations through its Community Shares Campaign and Community Benefit Society. These initiatives will ensure the building’s ownership and future will reside firmly in the hands of the Trust’s members and the local community.

90% of Govanhill Baths’ staff and visitors live and work within 1 mile of the building. The funding boost will enable the Trust to increase its part-time staff and will also go towards travel costs and volunteer costs.

Mactaggart & Mickel Homes has a long history of supporting good causes. The Building Communities Fund was established to enhance the company’s ongoing efforts to help organisations and projects which enhance the lives of people within their local communities.

The fund is open throughout the year to applications from charities, community groups, sports teams and schools within a five-mile radius of any Mactaggart & Mickel Homes development under construction, including Milverton Grange in Lower Whitecraigs, Giffnock. Applications for funding are assessed and awarded by a cross-section of Mactaggart & Mickel employees.

 

Morrison Construction promotes safety at Strathpeffer Primary School

Morrison Construction has taken the opportunity to educate Strathpeffer Primary School pupils about safety while undertaking a necessary upgrade to the local waste water system due to be completed in April.

Site manager Stephen Macleod with health and safety adviser Alastair Gill previously visited the school to give a safety presentation and to launch a poster competition to educate pupils.

The competition, created to get pupils thinking about safety as works take place, had almost 200 entries. The winner Millar Grant, Primary 7, received an iPad mini, with 14 other lucky pupils also being presented gift bags for their posters and Easter treats for all participants.

Temporary road closures have been set up as result of the works being undertaken near the school. During the works some pupils are walking, supervised in supplied high-visibility vests, from their buses.

 

Scottish house prices see 7.3% annual jump

The average price of a property in Scotland in January 2018 was £148,512 – an increase of 7.3% on January in the previous year and an increase of 1.4% when compared to the previous month.

The figures from the Registers of Scotland’s latest monthly UK House Price Index (UK HPI) shows that compares to a UK average of £225,621, which was an increase of 4.9% on January in the previous year and a decrease of 0.3% when compared to the previous month.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in November 2017 was 8,572 – a decrease of 1.9% on November 2016 and a decrease of 4.1% on the previous month.

This compares with annual decreases in sales volumes of 13.0% in England and 5.2% in Wales in November 2017, and 8.8% in Northern Ireland Quarter 4 – 2017.

 

North Lanarkshire Council chief executive announces retirement

North Lanarkshire Council chief executive, Paul Jukes, has announced his intention to retire later this year after 31 years in local government.

Mr Jukes, 59, has served North Lanarkshire Council and its predecessor Motherwell District Council since joining in 1987.

 

Springfield staff raise money for Aberlour Children’s Trust

Aberlour Children’s Trust received a £663.86 donation from housebuilder Springfield Properties’ Larbert office staff.

Over 2017, employees of the Scottish affordable and private house builder organised bake sales, dress down days, and some male leg waxing by colleagues, to raise funds for the children’s charity.

On top of this, employees raised additional money for the charity outside of office hours and abseiled 165ft off the Forth Rail Bridge to donate £1,100, earlier in the year.

Aberlour Children’s Charity aims to transform the lives of children across Scotland and build better futures for families. The charity provides a wide-range of services from specialist residential and fostering solutions, support for children affected by parental substance abuse, early years and family support and disability services.

The support from local businesses couldn’t come at a better time for Aberlour, which is gearing up to launch a brand-new fundraising campaign, focused on getting to children faster.

 

Last chance to apply for CALA community funding

Local charities, organisations and projects across Midlothian and East Lothian looking for a share of a combined £20,000 are being urged to apply for funding before tomorrow’s closing date.

The 2018 CALA Homes Community Bursary Scheme has allocated a £10,000 bursary fund to East Lothian and the same to Midlothian to provide support for a wide range of charities, organisations and good causes in each area.

Groups in Midlothian and East Lothian that could benefit from some extra funding are being urged to submit their applications before the closing date of March 23.

You can apply for a share of the community bursary by downloading an application form from the CALA website: https://www.cala.co.uk/cala-group/our-company/sustainability/bursary.