Building Briefs – November 6th

Perth City Hall demolition plan ‘no longer valid’

Council chiefs have torn up plans to demolish Perth City Hall.

Perth and Kinross Council confirmed it has formally withdrawn its listed building application to tear down the iconic Edwardian building.

The surprise announcement comes just weeks after councillors backed a plan to convert the hall into a food market.

But a council spokeswoman said that the planning application had been scrapped for technical reasons, rather than anything more significant.

Perth Market Place Ltd has been given until the New Year to prove its project is financially sound. The market plan was backed by councillors ahead of a separate proposal to turn the building into a hotel.

Newly approved homes for Castlehill

Thirty-one new affordable homes are to be built in Castlehill after the move was given the green light by West Dunbartonshire Council.

The project will be built on land at Carrick Terrace and Hawthornhill Road, which will be transferred to Cube Housing Association as part of the council’s strategic partnership with its parent company Wheatley Group.

The land on Carrick Terrace has been lying empty since 2013 when 48 unpopular properties were demolished.

A further 10 properties, which are above a row of shops on Hawthornhill Road, have been empty for two years and will now be flattened to make way for the new housing.

Only one of the commercial units is still in use and as part of the deal it is proposed that the same local shopkeeper continues to operate in a new shop within the development.

The strategic partnership between West Dunbartonshire Council, Cube and Wheatley Group has already seen 33 homes built at ‘The Scholars’ in Clydebank and 54 flats at Beardmore Place in Dalmuir.

Homes plans for Edinburgh allotments site

Plans have been lodged to build dozens of new homes on the site of historic Edinburgh allotments.

Proposals by Bett Homes will see flats and houses built on the site of 90-year-old plots at Telferton, between Craigentinny and Portobello – currently designated “open land” in the council’s city-wide planning blueprint.

Bett Homes, which owns the land, submitted a full planning application detailing its proposals last week, with its initial aim to build 32 homes now reduced to 28 after “extensive public consultation”.

The company insisted the development, which would keep 42 allotments on the site – an increase from its pre-application promise of 38 – will “safeguard” the long-term future of the plots.

As well as changing the number of homes and allotments, Bett Homes’ latest proposals show the height of a block of flats has been reduced, with no access to the site from Parker Terrace in response to concerns over parking.

Construction staff remain in high demand – KPMG

October saw a slower, but still robust, growth of demand for permanent and temporary staff in the construction sector, according to the latest Report on Jobs, published today by KPMG and the REC.

Adjusted for seasonal factors, the index for permanent workers in the construction sector fell from 64.7 in September to 62.8 in October. The latest reading was indicative of a sharp, although softer, expansion in permanent vacancies and one that was stronger than the UK-wide trend (62.1). Among the nine monitored sub-categories, construction was ranked fourth place in terms of demand for permanent workers in October.

Meanwhile, the equivalent index for temporary workers fell from 56.5 in September to a 21-month low of 55.5. Nonetheless, the latest figure was still consistent with a marked rate of expansion. The index for short-term staff in the construction sector remained below the UK economy average (59.7). Construction professionals posted eighth out of nine in the demand for staff rankings, ahead only of Executive/Professional.

Asbestos to be removed from Highlands woodland path

Work is underway to remove asbestos from a woodland path in the Highlands, the council has announced.

The Cemetery path, through Ellan Wood near Carrbridge, was installed in 2013 but closed in July 2015 after a member of the public reported finding a small amount of asbestos on the path’s surface.

Munro Construction (Highland) has been appointed to remove the contaminated material, which began yesterday. The path surface will then be reinstated.

New research highlights increasing affordability of improving Scotland’s coldest homes

Basic improvements to Scotland’s draughtiest private homes can be made for as little as £1,000 per property, new figures have revealed.

Researchers looking at regulation of energy efficiency of private sector housing (REEPS) costed various scenarios, one of which shows that making minimum improvements to the draughtiest 400,000 private homes in Scotland would cost £388 million, an average investment of less than £1,000 per home.

According to the report, the benefit for householders would be annual fuel bill savings of over £111m, and the benefit to Scotland’s climate change targets would be annual savings of over 600,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Aberdeenshire councillors pledge to increase affordable homes

Councillors in Aberdeenshire have made a commitment to increase the number of affordable houses in the region.

The pledge was made during a visit to a £3 million housing development in Inverurie last week.

The Martin Brae scheme consists of 24 units across a range of property types and sizes.

Along with the Barrasgate development in Fraserburgh, the scheme was delayed due to previous contractor Muirfield (Contracts) going into administration.

However, work on both sites has now restarted following the retendering of the contracts.

A number of developments in Aberdeenshire have recently been completed, including Bennachie View Care Village and 24 extra care units to accommodate people with learning difficulties at St James’s Court in Inverurie.

Further schemes in Banff, Peterhead, Ballater, Balmedie, Huntly,and Turriff are also planned or underway.

Stranraer historic building funding package complete

The final element of a £1.7m investment package has been secured to finance a regeneration programme for conservation areas within Stranraer.

Historic Scotland has pledged £500,000 towards the scheme which also has council and private sector support.

The project is due to get under way in April and finish in 2021.

It will include the refurbishment, improvement and reuse of historic buildings in the town centre.

They include Stranraer Museum, the former Harbourmaster’s Office and Gillespie’s Bakery.

Grants will also be available to property owners to allow them to undertake essential external repairs to their premises and contribute to the wider improvement of property condition across the town.

Dumfries and Galloway Council said the cash injection would ensure major improvements and restoration of some of the most historic parts of the town.