Building Briefs – November 5th

• South Ayrshire Council to buy flats for rent and deliver affordable homes for travellers in Girvan

The plans would see 12 newly-completed flats bought by the local authority and made available for rent, with half the properties providing easy access for people with mobility issues.

The council is also set to deliver warm, well maintained and energy efficient affordable homes for travellers at a Girvan site.

South Ayrshire Council has ambitious targets to deliver 1,000 new affordable homes by 2022/23, with the Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) setting out a broad-range of activity including public and private sector partnership projects.

Following an independent evaluation, a fund of £1.1 million has been agreed to buy 12 new flats in Girvan following an approach from local developer, Craig Hunter. The development, on Girvan’s North Park Avenue, includes eight, two-bedroom flats, and four, one-bedroom flats. Six of the flats are on the ground floor, meeting requirements for people with mobility issues who need level access.

The acquisition would be funded by Scottish Government subsidies (£684,000), Council Tax from second homes (£416,000) and South Ayrshire Council (legal costs of £2,500), with no additional borrowing required.

Meanwhile a new travelling persons site will be built at Low Troweir Road. Work is expected to start in January 2019 with six, three bedroom units and one, six bedroom unit to meet the needs of the families.

The travellers who currently occupy another part of the Troweir Road site have been there since their homes were flooded in late 2015.

The families are very much part of the local community so it made sense to build the new units at Low Troweir Road which provides good access to schools, public transport, health and other services.

• Edinburgh to unveil draft public realm designs for George Street and New Town

The public is being given the first opportunity to see the draft concept design for Edinburgh’s George Street and New Town public realm design project.

The City of Edinburgh Council will hold a series of drop-in events on November 8, 9 and 10 at the City Art Centre to give people an idea of how the streets could look in the future, and the chance to offer feedback to help further shape the design. An online survey about the concept design will also be launched this month and run until January 17, 2019.

The project is a key element of the wider City Centre Transformation project and seeks to design a vibrant street environment that is safe for all users – one which significantly enhances its use for pedestrians while prioritising active travel and accessibility for all.

The design project, which is being led by the City of Edinburgh Council with support from Sustrans, builds on previous strands of input from residents, businesses and interested parties leading to design principles adopted last year following a year-long trial to provide more space for pedestrians and cyclists on George Street.

The project’s design team includes WYG Environment Planning Transport Ltd and urban design experts LDA Design, who were commissioned by the council to develop this design project. 

• Plans to convert Dundee building into HMOs for 191 students

Plans have been unveiled to convert a block of former flats in Dundee into HMOs for nearly 200 students.

The McClaren Group, the construction firm which bought Peterson Hall student accommodation on Roseangle in July, hopes to convert the 82-bed block into housing for 191 new occupants.

• Funding agreed for improvements to Ross-shire council homes

The Highland Council is to invest more than £6 million into improving council homes in Ross-shire over the next two years.

Members of the council’s Ross and Cromarty committee have agreed a two year Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme that will also see a further £520,000 spent specifically on providing aids and adaptations to assist tenants requiring extra support.

The council is responsible for maintaining 3780 residential properties across the Ross and Cromarty wards. During 2019/20, £3,387,433 will be used to carry out upgrade works, including: replacing kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors as well as structural work to roofs, chimneys and the external fabric of properties.

Money will also be used to carry out heating and energy efficiency work in line with the Scottish Government’s Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing. For the period 2020/21 the investment will rise to £3,556,651. This is part of the wider Highland Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme.

• Too many Scottish homes still relying on coal for heat

The 14,000 Scottish homes which use coal as their main form of heating must switch to cleaner alternatives if Scotland is to hit its ambitious climate change targets, according to industry body Scottish Renewables.

A home heated by coal emits up to five times more carbon than one heated using a modern heat pump or a modern biomass boiler.

A further 186,000 homes which use oil or bottled gas should also consider switching to modern, low-carbon heating solutions, Scottish Renewables has said.

Coal is the dirtiest form of energy production and is responsible for half of the world’s energy-related climate change emissions each year, with the majority used to make electricity.

Scottish Renewables is calling for the Scottish Government to use its Energy Efficient Scotland programme, which launches in 2020, to tackle the issue of fossil fuel heating.

• Dundee conference set to generate energy discussion

Industry experts will breeze in to Dundee this week to discuss the future of research in the UK’s offshore renewable energy sector.

Academics and researchers will gather in the city for the Supergen Wind Hub General Assembly, with an emphasis on the future research agenda to tackle development and decommissioning challenges for international offshore wind energy deployment.

Representatives from leading universities including Dundee, Oxford and Imperial College London will be among those speaking at the event, providing updates on research that aims to breathe new life in to Britain’s offshore wind industry and offer solutions for rapidly developing areas such as Taiwan and China.

Around 50 delegates from across the United Kingdom are expected to arrive at Dundee’s Apex Hotel for the conference, which takes place on Thursday 8 November. Speakers will address such issues as the decommissioning of offshore turbines, construction challenges presented by deep water wind farms, and an update on the North Sea Hywind Project, the world’s only operational floating wind farm. There will also be a session dedicated to UK-China joint research projects that have recently commenced.

The event takes place against the backdrop of increasing challenges for the offshore wind sector, with the UK Government intending for 10% of the nation’s energy needs to be met by offshore wind farms by 2020. This decision has prompted energy providers to explore construction opportunities further out to sea, a move that has required engineers to examine innovative means of developing structures capable of operating in such a hostile environment.

• Tillicoultry Quarries buys sand quarry firm

Hugh King & Co Holdings, which produces dried mortar and render products, has been bought by Tillicoultry Quarries.

The acquisition is said to represent an “important strategic move” for Tillicoultry Quarries as it continues to build on its existing capabilities and core product range and expands into the mortar and render markets.

Tillicoultry Quarries and Hugh King & Co, founded in 1931 and 1853 respectively, have a history of family ownership.

The deal will see Tillicoultry acquire three sand quarries in Ayrshire, all existing plant and machinery and a vehicle fleet while retaining all 40 employees.

• Range of outdoor works agreed for Kirkcaldy

A range of outdoor improvements for the local area have been agreed by Fife Council’s Kirkcaldy area committee.

Phase two of the Kirkcaldy Area Play Park Programme was awarded £155,000 and will contribute towards four wider play park refurbishment projects. The money will contribute towards refits at Dunnikier Park, Ravenscraig Park, Nethergate Play Park in Kinghorn and Auchtertool Play Park.

The Area Capital Budget will contribute £20,000 towards the cost of a Golf Development Centre at Dunnikier Park. The project will see the development of a six-hole junior / beginner golf facility by Fife Golf Trust who manage and maintain the course for Fife Council.

Partner funding has already been secured from Dunnikier Park Golf Club, Fife Golf Trust and Scottish Golf. Work on the course will be carried out by Fife Golf Trust over the winter months.

£20,000 was also agreed towards the wider Middleden Bike Trails project. Recent woodland management works in the area means that there are now opportunities to extend and enhance the facilities available. Whilst some of the work will be undertaken by club members, local youth groups and community volunteers, the funding will be used towards appointing an expert trail designer and for construction materials.

Funding was also agreed for tree lighting at Townhead Park to be installed, to enhance the gateway to Dysart, as part of a community led project to improve the area.

• Dundee Railway Station bike park officially open

The latest £400,000 addition to Dundee’s bike infrastructure has been officially opened at the city’s railway station.

Funded by Dundee City Council, TACTRAN and Abellio ScotRail, the 120 bike parking covered space was designed by Jacobs and Nicoll Russell Studios and built by Tayside Contracts.

Accessible through automatic doors and covered by CCTV the facility is owned by Network Rail, managed and maintained by ScotRail and free to use.

The shelter is located to the north west of the railway station next to the car park.