Building Briefs – October 14th

A bid to secure £1.25m from the lottery to build a Gaelic heritage centre on South Uist has been rejected.

Arts group Ceolas wants to build the £12m centre in Daliburgh to showcase Gaelic culture and heritage.

Despite the setback, Ceolas development manager Dr Rebecca Rennell said the centre is still on course for a mid-2017 opening.

The group is now seeking feedback about why its bid was rejected.

Perth builder sees bright future

Perth housebuilder A&J Stephen believes its impressive performance this year will continue into next.

The company achieved a 41 per cent rise in turnover to £17.7 million and a 69 per cent rise in pre-tax profit at £1m.

Stephen, which has 89 employees, more than doubled its sales in the year to March at 76 homes.

Company secretary John Webster said that after an initial poor uptake in Perthshire the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme boosted the company’s performance in the last 12 months.

World Heritage inspectors arrive in Edinburgh for two-day visit

A two-day visit by World Heritage status inspectors has begun in Edinburgh.

A series of meetings are being held with the three-strong team from the UK committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos).

They are then due to make site visits across the capital including to the St James Centre and the former Royal High School.

The buildings are sites of two planning applications.

Plans to redevelop St James Centre have drawn strong criticism from conservation bodies, with some suggesting they could damage the capital’s reputation as an internationally important example of architecture and planning.

A new hotel planned for the site has been likened to a “walnut whip” or a “Mr Whippy” ice cream due to its spiralling metallic ribbon structure.

There is also concern about another planning application for a hotel.

The landmark Old Royal High School building on Calton Hill could be transformed into a luxury five- star hotel if permission is given to build two wings at the side of the existing buildings.

Hardies assists St Andrews Harbour Trust in new pontoon installation

Multi discipline surveying firm Hardies Property & Construction Consultants has played its part in the recently installed pontoons at St Andrews Harbour.

In just a few weeks, the pontoons have transformed the activity at the harbour, making it easier to berth and gain access to vessels. Individual finger berths are now in place attached to a stable pontoon walkway.

As the project, carried out by clients the St Andrews Harbour Trust, was grant funded, Hardies was able to advise the Trust on how to achieve a competitive tendering process.

Investigative works on Highlands flood scheme

Contractors are due to begin the next phase of a flood protection scheme in the Highlands.

Causeway Geotech has been awarded the contract to carry out investigation works for the scheme in Smithton and Culloden, Inverness.

The investigative works will provide valuable ground condition information for the detailed design of the flood protection measures.

The works, beginning on 19 October, will take approximately three weeks to complete and include investigations at sites behind the former nursing home at Murray Roa, at Smithton (Metal) Park, at Culloden Park, and between Redburn Avenue and Loch Lann Court.

Detailed designs for the fourth phase are still on-going.

A public consultation on proposals for the Flood Protection Scheme is expected to take place in the New Year.

West Lothian Council invites public to LDP consultation

West Lothian Council are inviting residents to attend a public consultation on the long-term development strategy of the region.

The new West Lothian Local Development Plan (LDP) will replace the current Local Plan.

It determines the approach to developing housing, infrastructure, schools and business in the area up to 2024.

The six-week exhibition will run until Sunday, 22 November.

The plan identifies development sites and developer requirements to contribute towards the provision of infrastructure, including supporting the delivery of new schools.

Over 19,000 houses are proposed, with the majority in the Core Development Areas of Armadale, East Broxburn/Uphall/Winchburgh and the Almond Valley at Calderwood, East Calder and West Livingston.

The plans also support development at Heartlands in Whitburn and the former Bangour hospital in Dechmont, as well as proposing to relax the ‘area of restraint’ in Linlithgow.

It is understood the LDP is expected to be adopted by early 2017.

View the LDP online here.

Unused Angus flats transformed into accommodation for care leavers

Angus Council has brought a previously unoccupied housing block back into use by creating four self-contained flats to be used by young people leaving care.

Thanks to funding from the Scottish Government, the accommodation in Arbroath is supported “on-site” via a training flat and office accommodation for the council’s Throughcare and Aftercare team and a concierge system operates at night and at weekends.

Work on new link road for Dingwall starts next week

Work on the first stage of the Kinnairdie Link Road Scheme in Dingwall will begin on Monday when contractor Pat Munro (Alness) Ltd will be on site to carry out improvements to the junction of the A862 Newton Road and the A834 Burn Place near to the Council Offices.

The A862 will be widened to provide additional stacking length on the approach to the junction from the South. An additional dedicated right turn lane serving Mart Road will be added North of the junction.

The whole junction and the A862 for about 150m each side will be resurfaced. Footways will be resurfaced and the traffic signals replaced. Signs and street lights will be relocated and replaced where necessary and drainage improved.

The work is scheduled to take 18 weeks.

Oban Airport access improvement project update

Argyll and Bute Council’s business park access scheme at Oban Airport continues to progress well and remains on track for completion by November 2015.

Over the past fortnight the foundation work for the carriageway have been completed, including the installation of a geogrid reinforcement netting which strengthens the existing ground.

Kerbing work got underway last week, with this element of the work set to be completed by the end of this week.

The next steps will see the gully pots and outfall pipework being installed before the blacktop is laid sometime week beginning 26th October.

Dalmuir open spaces to undergo £155k transformation

Residents living in Dalmuir multi-storey flats are set to benefit from a £155,000 investment which will transform the open spaces surrounding their homes.

West Dunbartonshire Council has approved the funding to regenerate the area by creating dedicated seating areas and improving the landscaping.

The design process is due to start in the coming months, and once completed will provide a vastly improved area for residents to enjoy.

The improvements which will be made to the areas surrounding the multi-storey flats will complement the significant capital investment in the blocks made last year.

The funding for this project is being provided by the Greenspace team and from the Housing Revenue Account.

The designs and plans for the project are still to be finalised and the council will be consulting with tenants soon to listen to their views on what they would like to see developed in the area.

Huge solar farm approved by Angus Council

A huge solar farm consisting of 20,000 panels has been approved by Angus Council.

The farm, located on a field 225 metres north of Pressock Farm at Guthrie, will be capable of generating up to 5MW – enough to power 1,100 homes.

The plans by Green Power Consultants will see a landscaped bund will be created along the western edge of the site.

The 20,000 panels will be mounted on galvanised steel structures which will be driven into the ground. Their maximum height will be 3.2 metres.

Miller Homes’ Summer of Sport competition winners

Peebles RFC has struck gold after winning the top Scotland regional prize in Miller Homes’ popular Summer of Sport competition.

The Peebles based club, which is developing a girls rugby team to enter at regional festivals, beat of stiff competition from various clubs across Scotland to pick up a prize of £500 in the regional round of the initiative.

Judges were looking for examples of how the sporting clubs in each community would make the most out of the donation, how the cash boost would directly support the learning and fitness of its members and specific examples of how the money would be used.

The judging panel, which included Commonwealth Judo Gold Medallist Sarah Clark, agreed that Peebles RFC were worthy winners in Scotland as they are committed to introducing the game to and opening up opportunities for girls to learn and play competitive rugby.

The award winning UK housebuilder initiated the campaign this summer for the fourth year running on the back of successful competitions run in previous years.

The Scottish region received 11 entries for the competition.