Building Briefs – November 6th

Cordale Housing Association witnessed the start of work on its new office in Renton last week with the demolition of the former Main Street shops.

The new office site is based in the heart of the village will improve resident access to Cordale’s services whilst revitalising Main Street, replacing the long-standing dilapidated and empty shops, transforming the physical appearance of the area.

The new office is expected to be opened in late 2018.

Morrison Construction starts work on £4.6m car dealership project

Morrison Construction has begun works to build two car dealerships in Stirling after being appointed to deliver the £4.6 million development for Eastern Motor Group.

The works at Broadleys Business Park, a main commercial centre in Stirling, are scheduled to complete midway through 2018 with the dealerships to open soon after.

The two car dealerships for Nissan and Honda will be 1394sqm each in size, containing glass-fronted showrooms and associated workshops. A valet building, access roads, car parking with capacity for 331 vehicles and hard and soft landscaping are also part of the development.

Morrison Construction handed over the INTO academic centre at the University of Stirling in August, which will be officially opened later this month.

MSPs to investigate whether Glasgow City Region Deals improve lives and benefit locals

Local businesses and community members from Paisley and surrounding areas will share their opinions of Glasgow City Region Deal with a Holyrood Committee today.

As part of its on-going inquiry into City Region Deals, the Scottish Parliament’s local government and communities committee will hear directly from local people in Paisley and Glasgow.

The committee will ask how local businesses and communities expect to benefit from the Glasgow City Region Deal and how far they are involved in the development of the Deal. MSPs will also visit Glasgow Airport to see the transport links between the city airport and surrounding areas for themselves.

The Glasgow City Region Deal, described as the second largest in the UK, was agreed in August 2014 with the aim of creating thousands of jobs, delivering local growth and developing innovative infrastructure systems.

Local government and communities committee convener, Bob Doris MSP, said: “The new wave of City Region Deals have been popping up across the country and Glasgow’s in particular has been seen as a flagship project and ‘one to watch’.

“City Region Deals brought with them the promise of thousands of new jobs, boosted regional economies and more innovative partnerships and ways of working. What we want to know is whether these deals will deliver what they say on the tin.

“That’s why we’ll hear directly from local community members and small business owners during our visit to Paisley and Glasgow today. We want to know if they think the deal will deliver economic benefits, if it will improve the lives of those living nearby, or if any improvements should be made.”

West Lothian communities reap benefits from five year social housing programme

Communities across West Lothian are reaping substantial benefits from a major local housebuilding programme being led by partnership housing provider Lovell, in close partnership with West Lothian Council.

In total, the programme is expected to deliver 738 homes – all for social rent – through 15 individual projects located across eight different site locations.

The programme has so far delivered 26 new apprenticeships sponsored by Lovell’s subcontractor partners as well as providing training for 30 existing apprentices. It has also supported 33 site jobs, eight graduate jobs and 35 work experience placements.

An estimated 80% of subcontractors working on the programme come from within 40km of the project area.

Ten first year apprentice joiners from West Lothian College recently visited Lovell’s Kirkhill site and were given a tour of the site, an on-site induction process and an explanation of the different stages of the build process.

Lovell’s local community benefit activities in West Lothian have recently been bolstered with the recruitment of a dedicated new team comprising Kelly Harkness as training adviser and Ness Stewart as community engagement manager.

Kelly has recently joined Lovell from Competence Matters where she was responsible for identifying, planning and co-ordinating the training needs of a variety of construction sector clients including Laing O’Rourke, Careys plc, Morgan Sindall and Morrison Construction. As a result, she has established links with local training providers including CITB and Skills Development Scotland.

Ness Stewart has been with Lovell for 10 years and worked previously as resident liaison manager, managing communication between Lovell and local residents during the refurbishment of their homes.

Council asked to approve next steps for Borders school estate review

Scottish Borders Council’s executive committee is being asked to approve a report that provides an update on progress made with the school estate review and outlines a range of proposals which, if agreed, will be taken forward over the next year.

Elected members are first of all asked to consider a request to amend the strategic principles that guide the school estate review which it is intended will now have the long term aim of delivering intergenerational learning opportunities and outcomes for all ages within a community. The very successful outcome of Scottish Government partnership funding to deliver an intergenerational community learning campus in Jedburgh has been instrumental in making this recommendation, along with the council’s developing approach to community empowerment and connectivity with its focus on change, improvement and support being centred in localities.

The report then makes a number of specific recommendations in relation to both primary and secondary provision across the region, beginning with the request to undertake a detailed assessment of Galashiels Academy, Hawick High, Peebles High and Selkirk High. Each will be considered in relation to their condition, suitability and capacity in order to prioritise the order of investment in the secondary estate over the next 10 to 15 years. The outcome of the review will be brought back to the Executive Committee in due course, along with proposals to undertake consultations within each local community.

Assessment of the primary school estate already undertaken has identified that Earlston and Eyemouth are priorities for investment with the recommendation being that informal consultations take place regarding a vision for future provision of these two schools.

Agreement is also being sought to progress with the closure of the three mothballed primary schools (Eccles/Leitholm, Ettrickbridge and Hobkirk) while a separate paper will recommend the closure of the nursery, secondary and specialist provision in Jedburgh, along with the establishment of a new intergenerational learning campus for the town.

£2m refurbishment of Pitlochry hotel nears completion

125 years from their visit, a historic guest book detailing the stay of former Prime Minister William Gladstone and world renowned philanthropist Andrew Carneagie will take pride of place at Fishers Hotel, Pitlochry as the £2 million refurbishment of the hotel nears completion.

The entries to the old guest book, dates back to 1892 and showcases the prominence of the hotel in the 1800s with many of Britain’s elite coming to the Scottish highlands – following in the footsteps of Queen Victoria. It also highlights the hotel’s reputation as of the most iconic hotels within the region that reaches back nearly 200 years.

The signatures will be displayed for guests at the hotel to enjoy and marks a milestone in the hotel’s history as it embarks on a new future following an extensive renovation which is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

The extensive project has seen the refurbishment and creation of 30 new rooms within the hotel giving a new room count of 140. This includes the creation of impressive new special occasion rooms, with many of the original features including period fireplaces being re-instated.

Along with changes to the hotel interior, the sophisticated new 150 cover Castle Restaurant has been unveiled.

The renovation is due to be complete by the end of the year, the revamped hotel will continue to offer all day dining and drinking in a relaxed, comfortable and friendly atmosphere which is synonymous with the Fisher’s experience.

Piperdam resort wants to add 20 more lodges to existing project

Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resorts has filed a planning application with Angus Council, detailing a million pound development to build 20 new bespoke lodges on the site of the old driving range.

As many as 40 guests would be able to stay in the lodges, which cater for between one and three people per house.

If approved, the lodges would join almost 30 other similar houses under construction at Piperdam.

A planning statement by architects Hiddleston and Feist said: “Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort is the largest independent self-catering accommodation provider in Tayside.

“The business is a market leader in UK sport and activity holidays in terms of product and customer satisfaction and the additional tourists attracted to these 20 executive lodges will increase visitor number into the Angus economy by circa 8,000 persons per annum, and this will in turn procure on-site spending of £90,000 and off-site spending of £200,000.

“Local builders and suppliers will be sourced to construct and fit out this project, at an estimated cost of £1.9 million and when complete this project will create 15 full-time positions and generate a further ongoing spend of £500,000 per annum for local businesses, including cleaning and laundry services and food and drink companies.

“The complex is to be fuelled by the same biomass technology pioneered elsewhere in Piperdam.”

The plans are due to go before Angus councillors before December 29.

Working group appeal as Hawick Flood Scheme gains preliminary approval

Members of the public are being invited to get involved in Hawick Flood Protection Scheme as the project continues to move forward.

Councillors gave preliminary approval to the scheme – which will defend over 900 properties from a 1 in 75 year flood event – on Thursday 2 November.

While the scheme needs to pass two more stages before Scottish Borders Council can take forward the works, this decision means the project team now has the authority to commence the detailed design, and begin setting-up the new working groups that were agreed with the people of Hawick during the objections consideration period.

A Traffic Management Working Group which will focus on minimising potential impact to traffic and pedestrian movement during the construction period.

There will also be a Community Vision Working Group that will work with the project team to look at how the local landscape can be tailored to meet the needs of the community once the flood protection scheme is completed.

It is intended to draw on local knowledge and use the collaborative working model that were so successful for the Selkirk Flood Protection Scheme to achieve multiple benefits and opportunities at key areas.

In particular, the project team will initially focus on Common Haugh, Little Haugh, Mansfield Road, Duke Street, Weensland and Volunteer Park/Wilton Park area.

Anyone wishing to get involved in these working groups is invited to contact hawickfloodps@scotborders.gov.uk, visit www.hawickfloodscheme.com or contact the team through the Facebook page www.facebook.com/hawickfloodprotectionscheme.