Building Briefs - May 11th

• Coatbridge sheltered housing renovation work begins

From new landscaped gardens and a hairdressing facility, to additional common room areas and safety features, including dementia friendly colour coded doors and frames, these exciting changes are set to improve the lives of the residents living here. And not forgetting the residents that like getting out and about, an area is also being created for tenants to charge their mobility scooters.

As part of the refurbishment, an extension is being added to the existing common areas as well as two further communal areas which tenants can use to meet up in.

Safety upgrades are also taking place, including fire detection measures. These will see all flat doors and frames being replaced with colour coded doors and frames, a key dementia friendly measure and one that will also help the visually impaired. This should help contribute to a safe, warm and friendly living environment for the tenant.

Additional family areas and benches are being created as part of the landscape garden plans. It’s so important residents can enjoy being outdoors in fresh air and these improvements will allow families to choose to meet in the garden and use the area to its full potential.

It’s anticipated the project will be completed by summer 2022. However, residents could start to see improvements as early as this summer through the upgrading of fire doors and some decoration.

• Work continues on Arbroath Flood Protection Scheme

Work on the Arbroath Flood Protection Scheme has been picking up pace through 2021, with activity relating to the project becoming more visible to the public eye.

Significant operations are set to begin at St Vigeans and Brothock Meadows adding to the continuing presence at Hercules Den, where people will soon be able to see the first completed embankment on the flood storage area.

Operations are being progressed in the centre of Arbroath, notably near Lindsay Street where new protective walls have been built along the Brothock Burn. During the project town residents and businesses are being kept informed about planned surveys and scheduled works.

All necessary wildlife surveys are being carried out by independent licensed professionals before work starts in a particular area to ensure minimum disruption to local species. Further bat surveys will be carried out before the main works at St Vigeans gets underway and the project’s Ecological Clerk of Works will continue to be closely involved with the project to ensure all environmental requirements are fulfilled.

Glenn Mitchell, site agent for Morrison Construction, said: “We are excited about our upcoming work and will continue to engage with residents and businesses to ensure we minimise any disruption caused by our construction activities.

“The team has made some great progress so far, and many people will have seen the dramatic change at the Hercules Den site. The engineering team has been busy conducting surveys of the land while the construction team has been hard at work on building the new flood embankment.

“It gives us all great satisfaction to know that the work we are doing will have a positive and long-lasting impact regards the protection of Arbroath and its people from future extreme weather events.”

• Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited completes Tiree pierhead works

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has completed final snagging works at Tiree Ferry Terminal following the completion of pierhead repairs in December last year.

Engineers were on site from March 22 to carry out the routine work, which involved levelling of fender piles, resetting bollards, repairing gaps on the solid pier structure and tightening and finishing pile fenders’ bolts and chain, which protect the pier from the impact of vessels.

CMAL, which owns the ferry terminal and is the harbour authority for the south side of Gott Bay, appointed contractor George Leslie Ltd in 2019 to carry out the project to return the old pierhead back to operational use for third party vessels.

• Landscaping works along new Stonehaven Boardwalk to begin

The next step in the transformation of Stonehaven’s popular boardwalk will begin on May 17.

Machinery is being brought in to undertake preparatory groundworks in advance of planting which will take place later in the year. 

To ensure the safety of the public and contractor personnel, it is necessary to close off the section of the Boardwalk from the Backies car park up to the River Carron during these works for a period of five days.

The Boardwalk will be re-opened to the public just as soon as the works are complete.  

Future enhancements will include the addition of raised planters which will provide backing to two of the small benches and the addition of picnic benches to the new seating areas which are expected to be in place by the start of the summer season. 

Meanwhile, Stonehaven Men’s Shed has been working in partnership with the council to construct a wooden picnic table and benches which will also be placed along the Boardwalk to provide additional seating for people to sit and enjoy the scenic views. 

Plans are also well advanced to erect new finger-pointer signs along the seafront from the open-air pool to the harbour as well as new information and interpretation boards along this stretch. 

This will provide background information on the many attractions the town has to offer and the natural sealife which inhabits the rivers and seashore, as well as historical facts on the rich heritage for which Stonehaven is famed.

The replacement of the boardwalk has been possible by a £265,000 grant awarded from the Aberdeenshire Town Centre Fund, with monies allocated from the Scottish Government’s 2019/2021 Town Centre Fund.  Additional funding was also secured from the Coastal Communities Fund (£30,000) and European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) (£45,000) to further enhance the seafront by providing the new seating areas, finger-pointer signage and information and interpretation boards.

• Western Isles surface dressing programme begins

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has commenced the annual surface dressing programme and this will continue through May and June 2021 in Lewis and Harris for approximately four weeks.

The main areas of work are sections of the A857 Barvas to Ness road, A858 Callanish to Achmore, A859 Lochs Road, B8060 Sheildinish to Habost, A859 Arivruach and C79 Bays of Harris. All works are weather permitting and subject to delays or cancellation.

• Shetland pauses routine housing repairs to clear backlog

Shetland Islands Council (SIC) is to pause routine repair work until the end of June to prioritise emergency and urgent housing repairs for tenants.

A housing repairs backlog has emerged due to Covid and the local authority is taking the steps to focus on the work deemed to be most important.

Essential work to empty houses will also be done to allow properties to be let. 

Details of what is classed as emergency, urgent and routine repairs can be found in the tenants handbook and on the SIC Housing website.

Tenants can continue to report repairs by contacting the Repair Helpdesk on 01595 744399 or housingrepairs@shetland.gov.uk.

Shetland Islands Council extended its thanks tenants for their patience as the Housing Service returns to a normal level of service.