Building Briefs – October 26th

Work has started to create a world-renowned multi-use community sports facility in Aberdeen.

Over the next two and half months a run-down under-used community space in Aberdeen will become a hi-tech, all-weather play and activity area for people in the surrounding areas and the wider Aberdeen community.

Catherine Street Court is set to become Scotland’s first Cruyff Court - the brainchild of Dutch footballing legend Johan Cruyff - as part of city centre regeneration plans.

Aberdeen City Council, in partnership with the Denis Law Legacy Trust and the Cruyff Foundation, have come together to bring the initiative to the Granite City and encourage fitness and well-being in an urban environment.

More than £250,000 has been committed for the project which will include planned sports activity for children and young people.

Hunter Construction, a local company which specialises in artificial grass sports pitches, has been contracted to carry out the work.

Partick Housing Association to build 100 new homes with Clydesdale Bank support

Partick Housing Association is to provide over 100 new homes in the west of Glasgow after securing a £26.5 million funding package from Clydesdale Bank.

The deal involves a refinance of debt provided by another lender and additional funding to help construct new homes over the next few years.

Partick Housing Association owns some 1,800 properties in the west end of the city and is an active provider of social housing and affordable homes.

The social landlord has already earmarked the vacant site of the former St. Peter’s School in Partick. The £8m redevelopment will consist of 60 flats and will offer a mix of social housing, mid-market rental property and supported accommodation. Work is expected to commence on the site, which will incorporate conversions and new build properties, early next year.

HLF grants over £1.2m towards Glasgow restoration project

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has granted over £1.2 million towards a historic restoration project in Glasgow.

The scheme will see the B-listed West Boathouse on Glasgow Green repaired and redeveloped to promote the sporting and built heritage of the site.

Proposed works include: replacing the rotten timber piles and substructure with concrete foundations; replacing the non-original external cladding; converting the building from a semi-detached building into a shared boathouse; renewing and repairing the roof, windows and doors; improving accessibility to the upper floors with lift and accessible facilities; providing flexible, multi-use spaces on the upper floor that will be available for use by other groups; provision of shared club room and replacement of all sanitary facilities.

The First Round Pass includes £121,900 in development funding for Glasgow Building Preservation Trust (GBPT) to develop their proposals further.

At a total cost of £2.4m, GBPT will spend the next year going forward with its plans and raising the remaining funds before starting work in 2018.

Completion is scheduled for 2019.

Forster welcomes first female roofing apprentice

Earlier this week, Brechin based national roofing contractor Forster Roofing welcomed 12 new apprentices to its Skills Academy.

The apprentices, who come from all over Scotland, include the company’s first female roofing apprentice, Adelle Martin from Denny.

The two year Modern Apprenticeship in Roof Tiling for New Build combines on-the-job structured learning, with contextualised off-site training at Forster’s own Skills Academy in Brechin.

The apprentices are spending the first week (of their ten off-site residential training weeks) receiving training in Health and Safety Awareness and Emergency First Aid and an induction from CITB.

Tenders approved for over 50 new council homes in Moray

Moray councillors have agreed to accept tenders from Springfield Properties to provide a total of 51 new council houses.

The three tenders, totalling £6.5 million, relate to sites at Ferrylea in Forres, Barhill Road in Buckie and Linkwood Steadings in Elgin.

Funding from the Scottish Government will cover around £3m of the overall cost of the projects.

Twenty houses will be built at Ferrylea, 15 at Barhill Road and 16 at Linkwood Steadings.

Moray Council has set a target of building 50 new council houses each year for the next decade to help meet the demand for affordable housing.

Bridge demolition to begin on £500m M8/M73/M74 improvements project

Work is to begin on a bridge demolition project as part of the £500 million M8/M73/M74 Motorway Improvements Project.

The Bothwellpark Road Bridge, located to the north of M74 Junction 5, Raith, is the final structure to be levelled as part of the major infrastructure scheme.

The overall project is being delivered by Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP), a consortium with a construction joint venture of Ferrovial Agroman and Lagan, on behalf of Transport Scotland.

In order to carry out the scheme, the M74 will be closed to traffic in both directions from 8pm on Friday, 18 November to 6am on Monday, 21 November. Diversions will be in place.

In a bid to reduce local traffic congestion, South Lanarkshire Council has promoted a parking restriction on a short section of Main Street, Bothwell, for the duration of the weekend closure and traffic signals will be monitored at key junctions on the surrounding roads network to improve traffic flows.

New Sidlaw View Primary opens in Dundee

Pupils of Sidlaw View Primary in Dundee have celebrated the opening of their new £8.1 million building.

The new primary school is part of a campus with Jessie Porter Nursery and will include the replacement for Baldragon Academy when it is complete.

Up to 400 pupils will be able to attend the new two-stream primary school, which also includes a dining and assembly hall, a production kitchen, a gym hall, offices, and drama and music provision.

Kevin Dickson, regional managing director, Robertson Tayside, said: “Pupils entering Sidlaw View can look forward to learning in modern, light and spacious surroundings.

“The school’s opening marks an important milestone for the Harestane Road site, which will also play host to Baldragon Academy.

“It is the latest step in Robertson Tayside’s efforts to help transform education establishments for the benefit of pupils, staff and communities across Tayside.”

Link completes affordable housing development in Paisley

Link Group has completed its second recent housing development in Paisley.

The homes at Thrushcraigs were officially opened by Renfrewshire Council’s convener of housing and community safety, Councillor Tommy Williams.

The £7.1 million construction of 70 homes for social rent and New Supply shared equity commenced in January 2015, using £4.1m funding from the Scottish Government.

Built by McTaggart Construction, the 56 homes for social rent included one, two and three bedroom properties, four of which were designed to meet the needs of a wheelchair user.

There were also fourteen homes available to buy through the New Supply Shared Equity scheme including two and three bedroom properties, two of which were designed to meet the needs of a wheelchair user.

All of the properties meet Link’s housing design standards and are energy efficient homes that will be economical to run. The properties benefit from solar panels that generate free electricity during daylight, helping to address fuel poverty.

Link also recently completed 38 flats at Abbey Place, Paisley. These are a mixture of social rent and new supply shared equity properties designed for independent retirement living.

Moray agrees next stage of energy-from-waste project

Moray Council yesterday became the second of the three north-east authorities to sign up to the next stage of an agreement which will pave the way for a shared energy-from-waste plant.

A special meeting of the full council in Elgin agreed to the terms of a stage two agreement involving Moray and neighbouring Aberdeenshire Council and Aberdeen City Council.

The city council gave its approval to the next stage of the project earlier this week and Aberdeenshire Council will give its decision later today.

Agreement by all three councils will lead to a procurement exercise to seek a contractor for the project.

Planning permission has already been given for the plant at East Tullos in Aberdeen which will generate electricity by processing up to 150,000 tonnes of waste each year from across the north-east.

New landlord electrical safety guidelines for Dumfries and Galloway

A series of new landlord electrical safety guidelines are due to come into effect in Dumfries and Galloway.

All private landlords will need to ensure their occupied rented properties have an electrical installation condition report (EICR) from December 1. The certification ensures the electrical installations in the property are safe.

As part of the scheme, a copy of the EICR report must be provided to the tenant. In addition, if any portable electrical goods are provided as part of the let (fridge, washing machine, lamps etc.) then these also need to be tested every five years for safety under what is known as portable appliance testing (PAT).

Other new requirements include a smoke detector fitted in the living room, in circulation spaces such as halls and landings and a heat detector must be installed in the kitchen. Smoke detectors must also have mains detectors and be interlinked.

A carbon monoxide detector must also be installed in any room where a carbon fuel appliance is installed, such as wood/multi fuel stoves, gas and oil boilers, open and gas fires. The detectors can be battery operated and do not need to be hard wired, but should have a sealed unit battery.

Five youngsters get Sanctuary-backed training boost

Sanctuary Scotland has been instrumental in the employment of five apprentices in Cumbernauld.

Lisa Connelly, 17, recently joined the housing provider’s team at Fleming House. The former Our Lady’s High School pupil’s business administration apprenticeship will see Lisa spend at least one year with Sanctuary.

Meanwhile Cruden, the contractor for Sanctuary’s regeneration of Cumbernauld’s high-rise blocks, has taken on four local teenagers.

Joiners Steven McAuley and Lewis Carey, both 16 of Cumbernauld, plumber Callum Waugh, 17, of Cumbernauld, and joiner Derryn McCormack, 18, of Airdrie, are helping Sanctuary build new homes for future generations.

A&W Sinclair wins contract to improve Reiss Beach access

Industry supplier A&W Sinclair has won a contract to help upgrade access to a beach in the Highlands.

The civil engineering company will start work to improve access to Reiss Beach in Caithness on Monday, 07 November.

The scheme is scheduled for completion on 05 December, depending on the weather.

Stranraer harbourmaster’s office plans unveiled

A building linked to Stanraer’s maritime history is to be revitalised and brought back into use as part of a major re-development.

The local authority has set out plans to repair and extend the former harbourmaster’s office.

The project is part of £2 million plans to regenerate the town’s waterfront.

The council will now begin a series of public consultation events for locals to put forward their views on the proposals.

The listed building is among the most recognisable landmarks of the town and sits at the entrance to Stranraer marina.