Building Briefs – November 11th

Chair of The Highland Council’s Community Services, Councillor Graham MacKenzie and local councillors, Jean Slater, Norrie Donald and Fraser Parr have welcomed tenant Jen Scrimgeour to her new home at Kintail Terrace in Inverness to mark the completion of 11 new units.

The new scheme comprises of 6 x 1 bed flats, 3 x 5 person houses and 2 accessible bungalows.

The scheme was part of the council’s approved development programme to provide 688 new affordable units by 2017. The new homes were built on the site of the derelict Jolly Drover public house and further enhancements have been made to the approach of Kintail Terrace, the local community shop front and car parking.

The new houses cost in the region of £1.3m, were designed by a council architect, overseen by a council Clerk of Works and were built by local contractor, Compass. The scheme benefitted from £506,000 of Scottish Government grant monies.

Warm welcome to new council homes in East Ayrshire

Mr and Mrs Thomas rolled out the welcome mat to their beautiful new home at Robertland Square in Stewarton for visitors from East Ayrshire Council.

Their home is part of the council’s million pound housing development, which was built on the site of the former Robertland Hostel and includes two two-bed homes for wheelchair users with integral car ports and six two-bed homes specially designed for older people in attractive landscaped surroundings.

Built in partnership with McTaggart Construction and supported by funding from the Scottish Government; work commenced on site in January and were completed last month.

Break-ins ‘could delay’ Ayrshire sake brewery plans

Plans to create a sake brewery in North Ayrshire have been set back by a series of break-ins at the site, according to its owners.

Arran Brewery said thieves had stolen copper boilers and lead from the roof of the planned development in Dreghorn.

It estimated losses at more than £60,000 after three break-ins in as many weeks.

Arran said further thefts and acts of vandalism could delay jobs planned for the new facility.

The site is a former primary school which the company only recently bought from the local council.

Arran plans to create a bottling hall and a research and development centre at the new brewery.

It will also feature a visitor centre which aims to attract about 30,000 visitors a year to the area.

£10m scheme to improve waste water in Glasgow and Clydebank

Scottish Water is start work on a £10m scheme to improve waste water handling in Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire.

The first project will see £850,000 spent on a new combined sewer overflow in Clydebank’s Greenlaw Court.

The work, which is due to start on 19 November, will make sure waste water is screened before it is spilled into the River Clyde during stormy weather.

Other projects covering the town and the Yoker area of Glasgow are due to get under way by the spring of 2015.

Scottish councils facing millions in cuts

Councils in Scotland will have to save millions of pounds between over the next few years, new figures have revealed.

One of the biggest budget consultations is the Highland Council which is currently considering £15 million worth of cuts and savings - but said it would need to reduce its spending by nearly £50m more by 2018-19.

An unprecedented £40m gap in Falkirk Council’s budget over next three years will be discussed at a meeting tomorrow.

East Renfrewshire Council is to cut 200 posts over the next three years to help bridge a budget shortfall of £20m.

West Lothian Council said it would need to save £11m next year and £30m over the next few years.

The news comes after Scotland’s largest council - Glasgow – announced it is looking at £30m of savings next year with more to follow, while Edinburgh’s total for next year comes to £22m.

Baby boom fuels Edinburgh schools expansion

A planning application has been submitted by Scott Brownrigg for the erection of a two storey classroom extension within the grounds of James Gillespie’s Primary, part of a wider investment by Edinburgh City Council to meet the needs of a projected rise in the school age population through to 2019.

Located in the Marchmont area of the city the white render and zinc build is designed to be permanent whilst taking advantage of efficiencies gained through use of standardised components and ‘Optimum Schools’ principles.

More student housing on the way for Glasgow

Cooper Cromar Architects have gone back to the drawing board on their 2008 proposals for new student housing at 35-47 Kyle Street, Glasgow, beefing up their plans for the fringe site to include 296 rooms and 480 sq/m of ground floor retail and 562sq/m of business space.

The nine storey scheme will incorporate ground floor commercial uses on the site of a former printworks, tapping into the wider redevelopment of the area including 441 student flats to the immediate south and a campus expansion for Glasgow Caledonian University.

Scottish castle on market for £500k

A Scottish castle with nearly 10 acres of ground has gone on the market for £500,000 - cheaper than a two-bedroom flat in Edinburgh.

Bedlay Castle, nine miles from Glasgow, is up for sale for offers over half a million pounds.

Agents CKD Galbraith describe the property as an opportunity to own the castle as “an affordable reality for many”.

In comparison, a two-bedroom flat in Simpson Loan, Edinburgh, is on the market for offers over £625,000.

Plan for specialist maths and science school in Glasgow

A unique plan for a specialist centre to help teenagers in Glasgow study maths, science and technology has been revealed.

The hub, at a college in the city, will act as a centre of excellence for schools and pupils.

Part of the funding will come from former students of a now-closed school.

Allan Glen’s School was a selective school credited with helping many youngsters from humble backgrounds reach the top.

The plan is for the hub, which will have dedicated staff, to open next year.

Several different groups and organisations would be involved, including colleges, universities and the city council.

The hub would initially open at the City of Glasgow College’s Riverside campus next autumn. Then in 2016, it may move to a new development in Cathedral Street on the former site of Allan Glen’s School.

It would offer special facilities for pupils from across the city, ranging from sessions to stimulate an interest in the subjects to help for youngsters interested in going on to study them at college and university.

Plans to double regional park win crucial backing of MSPs

Plans to double the size of one of Scotland’s three regional parks have overcome a key hurdle.

The bid by SNP MSP Christine Grahame to extend the boundaries of the Pentland Hills Regional Park south of Edinburgh to cover the entire Pentlands range has gained backing from politicians across the political spectrum.

Practical qualifications better for ‘employability’ than some traditional degrees, say Scottish parents

Parents in Scotland say that obtaining a plumbing or IT qualification will make someone more employable than if they opt for a History, English or Foreign Languages degree.

In a national survey of just over 3500 parents, commissioned by the Edge Foundation and the City & Guilds Group, only 5 per cent of Scottish parents feel that studying for a history degree at university would make a graduate ‘very employable’ in the current job market.

Less than a quarter (15 per cent) of Scottish parents said that an English degree would put a young person in the ‘very employable’ category, with less than a third (30 per cent) saying the same about a foreign language degree.

In comparison, over half (51 per cent) of respondents rated a young person with a plumbing qualification or apprenticeship as being ‘very employable’ – higher than both a law degree (48 per cent) and a science degree (47 per cent).

Other vocational qualifications rated highly by Scottish parents for employability in the current job market include: IT (45 per cent), accountancy (39 per cent), automotive engineering (37 per cent) and construction (35 per cent).

However, despite this support for more practical and vocational qualifications, the research also reveals that just 17 per cent of Scottish parents hope their child will complete an apprenticeship, or have done in the past.

Additionally, only 9 per cent of Scottish parents were keen on their child gaining a level 2 vocational qualification and 9 per cent for a level 3 qualification. However, less than two-fifths say they know ‘a lot’ or a ‘fair amount’ about these types of achievements (35 per cent and 36 per cent respectively).