Building Briefs – May 20th

• Deanestor supplies clinical furniture for three NHS field hospitals and supports contractors on other accelerated healthcare projects

At the Louisa Jordan Hospital in Glasgow, Deanestor worked with principal contractors Balfour Beatty, and Robertson Group, Graham Group and Kier Group, supplying a range of specialist clinical equipment including healthcare benching, drug cabinets, medi rails and storage solutions. These were delivered in just a few days.

Two projects were completed for principal contractor BAM Construct UK and with architects BDP, supplying a total of 12 lorry loads of specialist equipment to the Harrogate Convention Centre which was converted into an NHS Nightingale Hospital.

Clinical workbenches and modular storage units totalling 500 items were offloaded, unpacked and delivered just 48 hours after receiving each instruction. This project has delivered a 500-bed level-three critical care field hospital for COVID-19 patients for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The NEC in Birmingham was also converted into a new Nightingale field hospital, designed by BDP, to provide additional capacity for the NHS with clinical space for 800 patients. Working with Interserve for University Hospitals Birmingham, Deanestor supplied specialist clinical equipment including workbenches and storage space, which were delivered to site within 24 hours of receiving the instruction.

Work has been continuing and accelerating on other Deanestor healthcare projects. At the £350 million Grange University Hospital in South Wales, Laing O’Rourke made 384 new inpatient beds available a year ahead of schedule. To help achieve this, Deanestor installed over 1,000 soap and towel dispensers and 263 PPE centres, and manufactured and fitted 48 HTM 71 pharmaceutical storage solutions, all in less than three weeks.

Also for Laing O’Rourke, Deanestor’s furniture and fit-out services contributed to the early completion of 150 much-needed hospital beds at the Royal Liverpool Hospital project.

• Mike Cantlay appointed for further two years as Scottish Natural Heritage chair

Dr Mike Cantlay has been appointed for a further two years as the chair of the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) board by cabinet secretary for the environment, climate change and land reform Roseanna Cunningham

Dr Cantlay has been SNH’s chair since May 2017.  He has held a number of prominent board positions and has over 20 years’ experience of public sector governance.

Dr Cantlay was an inaugural member of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority and was subsequently elected convener.  He was chair of VisitScotland from 2010 until 2016, leading the organisation through events like the Ryder Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the Year of Natural Scotland.  He has served as chair of Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley, chair of the Board of Management at Forth Valley College, an advisory member of the Board of Scottish Enterprise, chair of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd and Board Member of VisitBritain based in London.

Dr Cantlay currently also chairs the Scottish Funding Council which is responsible for the investment of around £1.8 billion of public money in Scotland’s colleges and universities and chairman and managing director of William Glen Limited which operates tourism, leisure and retail interests in Scotland, Canada and the USA.  He and his family live near Callander in Perthshire where they tend a small country estate consisting of grazing farmland, woodland, and a stretch of the River Teith. Dr Cantlay was awarded Public Sector Leader of the Year at the Scottish Leadership Awards 2012 and was made an OBE in 2014 for services to tourism.

• Plans lodged to turn empty Aberdeen newsagent into cafe space

A former Aberdeen newsagent which has been lying empty for two years could be turned into a café.

Newsbox on Union Street closed in the summer of 2018 – and “no interest” has been lodged from anyone to take over the unit as a shop since.

Halliday Fraser Munro is now asking the city council to allow the space to be used to serve food and drink instead.

• Angus makes Spaces for People bid 

With increasing numbers of people walking and cycling during the coronavirus pandemic, Angus Council is looking to secure funding from Scottish Government’s Spaces for People funding to make those journeys safer and easier.

Announced at the end of April, the £10 million Spaces for People funding is designed to help councils make journeys safer for those cycling and walking during and in recovery from the coronavirus outbreak. The criteria includes providing temporary walking and cycling infrastructure to help protect public health by enabling safe physical distancing for essential journeys and exercise for everyone.

To prepare for the bid, the council is currently working in collaboration with the Angus Community Planning Partnership and across services to consider the demand and need that would help in making social distancing easier for those walking and cycling and would meet the Spaces for People criteria. The initial priority identified is for journeys to and from schools and hospitals/health services, and journeys to shops and pharmacies in our High Streets across Angus. They will also be looking at the benefits to other paths and routes across Angus, including journeys for exercise.

The temporary infrastructure measures could include introducing 20mph speed limits and reallocating road space for wider footways or cycle tracks or selective road closures to allow people to walk or cycle in a safer environment and to promote opportunities to help town centres recover as lockdown measures are eased and places adapt to be safe for work, business and leisure.

The council is also preparing an initial bid to Sustrans for the Spaces for People fund for the appointment of a consultant to undertake necessary feasibility studies and options appraisals, before bidding for specific projects.

• Aberdeen’s proposed Local Development Plan now open to comments

An important planning document which will help to shape future land use of Aberdeen and guide planning decisions including housing developments, leisure and industrial zones is today (20 May) open to the public for comments.

The Proposed Aberdeen Local Development Plan and Delivery Programme was approved at Full Council on 2 March and are now the council’s settled view on what should be included in the final adopted Local Development Plan. The Proposed Plan, and supporting documents, can be found here.

The Proposed Plan includes several policy changes to encourage more tourism and cultural activities in the city centre and includes the seven City Centre Masterplan Interventions Areas are also identified for the first time. In addition, it is proposed to change the Union Street retail frontage policy to an active frontage policy which will allow for a greater range of uses such as services, leisure, food and drink if an open, public and active frontage is maintained. This is in response to decline in demand for purely retail uses along Union Street, and the risk of creating long-term vacancies.

Health and wellbeing are key components of the Proposed Plan, reflecting both their historic connection with planning and the need to ensure that healthcare services are provided, as well as create environments that foster health, encourage active lifestyles, and reduce inequalities in well-being. This health for all theme will be further developed in future guidance as outlined in the recommendation.

The Proposed Plan also looks to help address climate change, by ensuring developments are resilient to changing weather patterns as well as protecting assets such as flood plains and carbon-rich soils. It also promotes a low carbon economy through, for instance, encouraging greater energy efficiency, heat networks and greener transport and infrastructure.

The period for the public making representations to the Proposed Plan is now open and will take place for 14.5 weeks which is more than eight weeks longer than the statutory minimum.