Building Briefs – November 13th

• Moray councillors unanimously agree Benromach distillery expansion

Eleven new cask warehouses, with a total floor space of seven football pitches (28,688 square metres), have been given the green light on a 4.7 hectare site adjoining Benromach in Forres, more than doubling the footprint of the current operation. 

Currently the site is prime agricultural land, but councillors unanimously agreed with planning officials that it was an acceptable departure from the local plan due to its contribution to economic growth, and that substantial landscaping plans would soften the development and enhance the site for wildlife, with biodiversity benefits.

No objections were raised to the development, which is expected to be phased in over a 10-year period.

• Further A9 dualling ground investigations start next week

The section of the A9 Dualling programme which includes the section past Aviemore and the remote Slochd summit is to be the location for further ground investigations starting on November 19.

The work will take place on the stretch between Dalraddy and Slochd and is expected to last around 17 weeks. The works will stop for two weeks over Christmas and the New Year.

Some traffic management measures will be required when necessary to allow work beside the carriageway to be carried out safely. This will include alternate single file traffic sections controlled by temporary traffic signals.

The contractor will continue to monitor traffic and take steps when necessary to ensure delays are kept to a minimum.

• Developing the Young Workforce ROCCO Award shortlisting for Clark Contracts

Clark Contracts has been shortlisted for a ROCCO Business Award for the second consecutive year.

The construction, refurbishment, maintenance contractor has been shortlisted for the ROCCO business award for Developing the Young Workforce and will find out if it has been successful at the awards ceremony which takes place at the Normandy Hotel on Friday November 16.

The company, which was founded in Paisley in 1978 and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, won the Employer of the Year award at the 2017 ROCCO Business Awards.

• Consultation event to be held on Kelso extra care housing plans

Members of the public have the opportunity to view plans for the old Kelso High School site this month.

A pre-application consultation event will be held on Thursday 22 November from 12 noon to 8pm at the former school by local building firm M & J Ballantyne, which is in the process of purchasing the site and propose to retain the original building and refurbish it to provide extra care housing for Eildon Housing Association.

M & J Ballantyne’s plans also include new build private housing on the remainder of the site.

The building was vacated in October 2017 following the opening of the new high school in November 2017, with the site then marketed for sale in February 2018.

Councillors agreed to accept an offer from M & J Ballantyne following a private report to the Executive Committee in October 2018.

The original school building was created in 1936 and is B-listed but the plans would see the redevelopment of this section of the site, which is encouraged by Historic Environment Scotland. The scale of the proposed development requires pre-application consultation to be held.

The extra care housing development in the proposal is part of a ten-year vision for the delivery of housing, care and support for older people in the Scottish Borders which has been developed by Scottish Borders Council and partners.

• Plans for drive-thru Starbucks to replace Pizza Hut in Govan

Plans have been submitted for a drive-thru coffee shop in Govan.

Developers are looking to change an existing Pizza Hut restaurant into a Starbucks. The building at Junction 24 retail park on Helen Street, would also be sub-divided and turned into another outlet under plans, although no operator has been identified as of yet.

• Fresh plans for North Kelvinside flats development

A fresh plan has been lodged to build six-storey flats in a protected area of Glasgow’s West End.

Rossweir Limited wants to build 19 properties at the foot of Fergus Drive, just off Queen Margaret Drive in North Kelvinside, part of the West Conservation area that takes in the Botanic Gardens and Kibble Palace.

A previous application for an aparthotel was turned down by Glasgow City Council last year on the grounds that the design was not sympathetic to the surrounding tenement buildings.