Building Briefs – May 11th

A new affordable housing development is being created on behalf of Ayrshire Housing to help address the substantial unmet need for high quality affordable housing in the town of Ayr.

Being delivered by construction company CCG (Scotland) Ltd, the project comprises 39 one and two-bedroom flats on a long derelict site on Peebles Street. Once complete, the new residents will benefit from car parking facilities and a central landscaped courtyard, as well as local access to train and bus stops and cycle path facilities.

To commemorate the site start, Ayrshire Housing and CCG were met by representatives of South Ayrshire Council to break ground on what is an important project for the town.

CCG will utilise ‘offsite’ construction methods for the build whereby the firm will manufacture and assemble a panelised timber frame system ‘offsite’ in their bespoke offsite manufacturing facility, CCG OSM, in Cambuslang. Wall panels are then transported to site complete with insulation, internal wall linings, windows and doors pre-installed.

CCG will also work with Ayr Housing to deliver job and training opportunities for the local community as well as working with local schools and colleges to provide curriculum support.

Milestone reached on £120m Glasgow Queen Street project

A project milestone has been reached on the £120 million Glasgow Queen Street redevelopment scheme.

Work to extend platform 1 by 50 metres is now complete, providing additional space for longer four-carriage trains.

The six-month scheme involved demolishing the former ticket office and staff accommodation block to clear the space needed to lengthen the platform.

Engineers worked over 11,500 hours to remove more than 4,000 tonnes of demolition material before laying 200 tonnes of ballast, 35 metres of new sleepers and rails, and installing overhead power masts.

With the newly-extended platform 1 now entering service, platforms 2 - 5 will also be lengthened to accept trains up to eight-carriages long.

Work is continuing to remove Consort House and the Millennium Hotel extension buildings from the front of the station, which will make way for these longer platforms, as well as a new station frontage, concourse and entrances.

The redeveloped Glasgow Queen Street station is scheduled to be complete in 2020.

Wills Bros wins £500,000 Inverness roadworks contract

Wills Bros has been appointed to carry out a £500,000 roadworks scheme in Inverness.

The civil engineering firm will begin widening the Culloden Road’s approach to Inshes Roundabout east of Inverness on 21 May.

By adding an additional westbound lane for city centre traffic, the scheme will provide two continuous lanes for traffic between the Inverness Campus junction and Inshes Roundabout.

The project is expected to take 22 weeks to complete.

Equality Commission calls for end to Scotland’s hidden disability housing crisis

Scotland’s disabled people are being failed by government policy and local government inaction, which leaves thousands with no decent home to live in, according to an Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) inquiry into disabled people’s housing.

By failing to build homes which are accessible or adaptable, Housing and disabled people: Scotland’s hidden crisis argues that we are not only failing disabled people today but storing up a huge problem for the future.

The report, published today, calls on the Scottish Government to produce a national strategy to ensure there is an adequate supply of houses built to inclusive design standards and for a review of the way that building standards are enforced.

The inquiry, which was conducted across Great Britain, also found that disabled people living in inaccessible houses were four times less likely to be in work than those who were properly housed.

Simple adaptations such as handrails, low level baths and hoists could make huge differences to people’s ability to live in their own homes, but the current system for installing them isn’t working, with lengthy delays common.

The report found that part of the problem is down to poor planning.

Only a quarter of Scottish councils said they had accurate information about disabled people’s housing needs today, and few are planning for people needs as they age. As a result, only a fifth had set targets for building accessible homes in the future.

Recommendations to stop the crisis include:

The report and associated material has been issued today and is available on the Commission’s website.

Council gives green light to affordable homes in Killearn

Planning permission in principle for a new residential development in rural Stirling has been given the green light by Stirling Council.

Members of the council’s planning and regulations panel signed off on a stage one proposal for new houses near Lampson Road in Killearn, subject to an agreement from the developer to include an allocation of affordable housing in the plans.

Members moved to approve on the condition that affordable housing is provided on site.

Kier to start Bo’ness sewer network upgrade

Kier is to begin upgrade works on the local sewer network in Bo’ness, Falkirk.

The contractor will carry out work to replace four manhole covers on the Links Road (A904).

Road users are being advised part of the route will be closed from 9.30am – 3.30pm on Sunday, 03 June.

The road will be closed after Main Street, next to Lidl supermarket, with local access available there. To the west, it will close at the junction with Boundary Street, with local access. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

Construction student to create monument of remembrance

Fife College Construction students have been busy creating a huge ‘anti-tank’ concrete cube as part of a community project to educate others about World War 2 and create a monument of remembrance.

Local historian Roger Pickering approached the College to make a replica cube after three genuine 1940 anti-tank cubes were discovered locally and brought to Pittencrieff Park, known as the Glen, in Dunfermline. They had originally been situated nearby on Pittencrieff Street during the War. The cubes had been a set of four and so the students were tasked at making a fourth concrete cube to complete the set which would also display an interpretation panel.

During the War it was expected that an enemy attack on Fife would start with an inland parachute drop. The anti-tank cubes were originally put in place to prevent the enemy using the road network.

Access to Construction students volunteered as part of their Task Management coursework and also as part of Year of Young People 2018 to design and build a replica cube and install it in the Glen in a scenario harking back to 1940. The group of eight students used construction planning techniques, practical skills in building the frame and constructing the cube itself as well as leadership and teamwork skills to ensure the challenging project was completed to a high standard.

A second Access to Construction class is currently working on a similar project restoring an ancient wall on the Fife Pilgrim Way, a revival of the walking routes used by medieval pilgrims between Culross, North Queensferry and St Andrews. This partnership project is led by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. Another project in the pipe line is restoration work at Dalbeath Marsh.

Prestongrange Museum renovation secures £23,400 investment

More than £23,000 has been awarded by Museums Galleries Scotland towards the renovation of Prestongrange Museum in East Lothian.

The £23,400 investment will help towards costs for improving the appearance and condition of the museum’s Visitor Centre.

Dunoon shop owners invited to apply for repair funding

Shop owners in Dunoon are being invited to apply for grant funding to repair or renew their shopfronts.

Grants of up to 80% are available for owners of shops in the town’s Argyll Street as part of the Dunoon Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), a grant programme focusing on the regeneration of historical buildings.

Funding will come from the overall Dunoon CARS budget of £1.25 million.

Expressions of interest are now being invited from shop owners with a deadline set for Friday, 01 June.