Building Briefs – November 20th

• Morrison Construction delivers road safety talk at Invergarry school

The contractor also gave each pupil a personalised hi-vis vest and hat to help them be seen when they are out and about over the next few months.

The sessions were held ahead of Morrison Construction starting work at the school to build two classroom extensions, as well as carrying out a significant refurbishment programme.

A Police Scotland officer gave the talk to raise awareness about road safety and the importance of ensuring a safe journey to and from school, answering questions at the end of the session.

The talk at the school coincides with Road Safety Week, which is held annually from November 19 to 25 by the charity Brake.

• 700 Borders social rented homes to benefit from £2.8m gas boiler installation programme

Work has begun on a £2.8 million programme of works to replace inefficient electric storage heating with modern gas combination boiler systems in more than 700 social rented homes across the Scottish Borders.

Scottish Borders Housing Association (SBHA) has commissioned national contractor PH Jones to carry out the works, which should take two years to complete. PH Jones was awarded the contract through a specialist heating services procurement framework designed and managed by PfH Scotland.

Expected to generate contract work with a cumulative value of around £600m over four years, the framework was launched in October 2017 to help registered social landlords meet their obligations under the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH). Under the standard, all social housing in Scotland must, as a minimum, meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band D by 2020. Latest available figures show there were around 47,000 units of social housing rated below EPC Band D in 2016, down from 66,000 in 2014, when the 2020 EESSH target was originally launched.

SBHA manages in the region of 5,600 properties throughout the region. The majority of homes now receiving an upgrade as part of the new gas heating installation programme currently do not meet the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing. Many also do not have an active gas supply and Scottish Borders Housing Association will be making a further up-front investment to supply gas to these homes.

As part of the works, fire safety measures in these homes will also be significantly enhanced with heat and smoke detectors and smoke alarms upgraded to conform to the latest standards.

• Stow bridge reopens after £250,000 repair programme

A three month repair programme to ensure the long-term future of a bridge in Stow has been completed.

The £250,000 refurbishment works to Station Bridge began in August 2018, with single lane access available for vehicles and a temporary footbridge installed to continue to provide pedestrian access throughout the programme.

A full two week closure of the bridge was needed this month to complete the repairs, which were finished two days early by SBc Contracts.

The bridge is the main route to Stow Rail Station and the village’s primary school and health centre, with the works ensuring its long-term durability.

• Winners of accessible travel fund announced

Five organisations have been successful in bidding for support from the Scottish Government’s Accessible Travel Fund.

Over £274,000 will be awarded to successful applications which will support the Accessible Travel Framework for Scotland, encouraging active and accessible travel solutions at a local level.

The new fund provides support to projects which enable the central vision outlined in the Accessible Travel Framework – that all disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens, with a particular focus in encouraging more sustainable active travel options.

Summary of successful applicants

Values into Action Scotland – East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Greater Glasgow – ‘Let’s Get Moving’ is a travel training project designed and delivered with and for people with learning difficulties and/or autism.  Total award £51,552.

Go Upstream – West of Scotland – ‘Making Connections’ concentrates on accessibility improvements to connections between ferry terminals and rail services in west of Scotland.
Total award £122,150.

Neatebox – Glasgow – Mobile application that for allows passenger assistance notifications for those with a visual impairment. Total award £35,000.

SEStran – Five workshops across the south east of Scotland – Continued roll out and promotion of the Thistle Card through research and development of mobile application. Total award £30,000.

Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership – Clackmannan and Stirling – Development of Independent Travel Training (ITT) programme for younger people, dementia and autism groups. Total award £36,148.

• Hebridean Housing Partnership completes new homes for Galson

Alasdair Allan MSP has officially opened four new homes developed for Hebridean Housing Partnership (HHP) in Galson.

Delivered by Alex Murray Construction, the new homes complement an existing HHP development at Tom Na Ba.

• Funding secured for empty home loans in East Ayrshire

Interest free loans are now available to homeowners with a property that has been empty for more than six months, East Ayrshire Council has announced.

Scottish Government funding was secured by the council to tackle empty homes in East Ayrshire and bring them back to life. Homeowners can apply to the council for a maximum loan of £10,000 that will help bring their property to a lettable standard. Once renovated, the property must then be let at a market rent for up to five years or sold at an affordable level.