Building Briefs – May 26th

Plans for the development of 21 affordable flats on the long derelict site of a former Dundee metal works on Dens Road have been approved.

Hillcrest Housing Association acquired the land in March 2015 and the developer, Cullross Limited, is due start building on the site this June with work scheduled to complete late summer 2016.

Development on this land, which has been empty since 2005, is another step forward in the on-going regeneration of Dundee’s Hilltown area.

Plans for the Dens Road development contain a mix of flats for social rent and properties for Mid Market Rent.

The Dens Road project is one of several Hillcrest is handling across the city.

Hillcrest and their partners are currently on-site or have planning approval to develop 123 properties across Dundee by late 2018.

Bid to build new whisky distillery on Raasay in Inner Hebrides

An island off the coast of Skye could become home to Scotland’s newest whisky distillery.

Raasay Distillery will produce its first whisky in 2020 if the Highland Council approves the plans.

R&B Distillers claim the distillery and visitor centre could attract up to 12,000 visitors in its first year and produce 150,000 bottles.

The facility could open its doors as early as 2017 and employ 11 of Raasay’s 120 residents.

R&B Distillers also plans to open a new plant in the Scottish Borders, where the last whisky distillery closed more than 150 years ago.

North Ayrshire Council shortlisted for housing award

North Ayrshire Council’s Redstone Wynd development has been nominated as a finalist in the ‘Small Affordable Housing Development of the Year’ category at the Scottish Home Awards 2015.

Redstone Wynd, Kilwinning is the council’s newest development and a place of community diversity.

The development has 46 homes varying from two to four bedrooms in size. It has three wheelchair-friendly bungalows, three amenity standards bungalows and three properties incorporating downstairs bedrooms, enabling families with specialist requirements to live safely and with dignity.

The specialist properties were designed to support the needs of older and disabled wheelchair users in line with ‘Housing of Varying Needs’ guidance. The houses have been future-proofed to help meet changing needs and should not require external maintenance for the next 25 years.

The council’s aim was to promote sustainability in its widest sense. It wanted to provide houses which are fit for purpose for the residents and attractive enough to ensure long-term demand. Designers adopted an inclusive approach, with community consultation events helping inform final design proposals.

A key consideration for the project design team was to embrace national ‘Designing Streets’ guidance which resulted in the use of shared surfaces to prioritise pedestrian movement within the development. These considerations have also resulted in ‘Secure by Design’ accreditation from Police Scotland.

Cabinet member for place, councillor Tony Gurney, is delighted that the council is now a contender for the coveted award.

Ballater station to be rebuilt after massive fire damage

A railway station once used by the Royal Family which was badly damaged by fire earlier this month will be rebuilt, Aberdeenshire Council has said.

The Old Royal Station in Ballater, which housed a railway museum, restaurant, visitor centre and businesses, went up in flames on 12 May.

Firefighters did manage to save a replica of the railway carriage used by Queen Victoria in 1869 to travel between Windsor and Ballater. It had been painstakingly hand-crafted to match the original design after being commissioned by Visit Scotland at the suggestion of Prince Charles, who opened it in 2008.

Aberdeenshire Council said it is committed to rebuilding the B-listed structure, retaining original features wherever possible.

It is meeting to discuss the proposals with Historic Scotland, which has to be consulted due to the listed status.

Eco-retreat plans for former Kinross-shire hospital

A former Kinross-shire hospital could be turned into an eco-retreat, according to developers.

Built in 1902 and demolished just over 100 years later, the Ochil Hills hospital was once a place of convalescence.

The site, near Milnathort, already has planning permission for 35 houses but selling agent Rettie & Co believes it could have a number of alternative uses – including an eco- village, wildlife sanctuary, adventure forest or environmentally friendly spa and hotel.

The 196-acre area, consisting of woodland, grazing land and open land, already has strong eco credentials to its name with approximately 20,000 trees planted to date.

There is also a licence in place to extract from two bore holes on the site, and a diverse mix of flora and fauna nearby, including red squirrels and roe deer.

There is also the potential for wind power.

Remaining families move into £50m Glasgow regeneration project

Hundreds of Glasgow families now reside in new homes after a regeneration project reached a major milestone.

The completion of phase three of Sanctuary Scotland’s £50 million transformation of Anderston allowed the final residents to move into the award-winning development and vacate damp and draughty blocks built in the 1960s.

Sanctuary’s regeneration has created a total of 334 affordable flats, maisonettes and town houses since 2011.

The first 104 homes in Anderston’s regeneration were handed over in 2011. Phase 2’s 72 homes were with residents in early 2013. The last of phase 3’s 158 properties were handed over last month.

Phase four will create another 86 homes off St Vincent Street, all for social rent. The existing blocks will be demolished and the site cleared of rubble before a site start in January 2016.

Thousands flock to A96 Dualling exhibitions

Over 2000 locals across the north of Scotland have attended a roadshow about the A96 Dualling Programme.

The public exhibitions over the last fortnight and which finished last week have let road users and locals get a first look at early assessment work showing a range of possible road improvement strategy options for the route between east of Nairn and Aberdeen.

Bield housing development shortlisted in Scottish Home Awards

A new housing development in Bearsden is in the running for a top industry award before it has even opened.

St Andrew’s View is a prestigious collection of 20 one and two-bed modern apartments, located on the site of the former St Andrew’s College in Bearsden.

The properties are designed to specifically meet the needs of older people and have been built to an uncompromising standard for retirement housing provider Bield.

However, although the first properties are not expected to be occupied until June, the project has been shortlisted in the Senior Living Development of the Year category of the Scottish Home Awards.