Building Briefs – October 9th

Work on a major new housing development at Craigmillar town centre for the City of Edinburgh Council is now underway.

The new homes, which will be complete by 2020, will be spread across a series of 14 blocks. Residents will have access to amenity areas and a large public green space will be at the heart of the development.

Included in the design is a mix of flats and houses. There will be 108 homes for affordable rent and 86 for market rent.

The development is the latest of the council’s housebuilding projects to go on site, new homes having recently completed at West Pilon Grove and new affordable housing is almost complete at Clermiston and Fernieflat Neuk.

The £24.6 million investment at Craigmillar town centre is funded by the council with £3.2m in grant funding from the Scottish Government.

The council has nearly 800 affordable homes under construction across the city with nearly 3,000 new homes in design development.

The new homes are being built by CCG and follow on from a successful period of development in Edinburgh over the last three years including the completion of nearly 300 homes across a variety of tenures – including The Schoolhouse – as well as presently being on site at Greendykes where 75 homes are due for completion in 2019.

A recent major success has been the industry recognition of Leith Fort, a 94-home development delivered on behalf of the council and Port of Leith Housing Association that has won a total of seven awards in 2018, most recently securing the Herald Property Award for Best Affordable Housing Development of the Year.

In addition to delivering modern, energy efficient homes, the contractor will provide apprenticeships, engage with local schools and colleges and provide investment to the community.

McLaughlin & Harvey completes work on two new primary schools

Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for education and skills, John Swinney, has officially opened Midlothian’s two new primary schools, Roslin and Paradykes.

Paradykes incorporates a Family Learning Centre and is part of the Loanhead Centre, providing school/wrap around care, a library, medical centre, early years’ provision and leisure facilities.

Funded through the Schools for Future programme, Roslin Primary was built by McLaughlin & Harvey at a cost of £6.8 million. The school can accommodate 267 primary pupils and boasts an all-weather, multi-use games area.

Aberdeen shop to make way for new restaurant

Plans to demolish a former electronics store and build a new restaurant beside an Aberdeen roundabout have been approved.

The proposals would see the former Maplin store and the current Carphone Warehouse shop at the Haudagain Retail Park torn down and the site redeveloped.

Planners have approved the application, arguing the proposed use is compatible with the retail park, which is also home to a KFC drive-thru.

Coogan and Company Architects has submitted plans to Aberdeen City Council on behalf of Herbel (Northern) Ltd.

The firm has also launched a similar application for the same site to create a new drive-thru but the outcome of this remains pending.

Open day success at Fife regeneration project

Kingdom Housing Association has welcomed tenants and their families to its Fraser Avenue open day to see firsthand progress being made with the Inverkeithing regeneration project.

The regeneration project is being progressed by Kingdom Housing Association in partnership with Fife Council, where unpopular flats that were owned by the council are being demolished and the land redeveloped by Kingdom to provide new high quality affordable homes.

The first phase of new housing started on site in March 2017 to provide 53 new homes for social rent. Completion of the new homes will be phased with the first tenants expected to move in at the end of October 2018.

The new homes have been designed to meet local housing needs and have been built to high energy efficiency standards to help keep fuel bills low for the tenants. The total cost of the project is £7.9 million and grant assistance of £4.2m was provided from the Scottish Government.

Rural tourism infrastructure fund welcomed

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has welcomed the announcement from the Scottish Government awarding £243,000 from the rural tourism infrastructure fund (RTIF), matching the Comhairle’s commitment to funding of up to £300,000 to develop tourism infrastructure in the Outer Hebrides.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, in collaboration with the local industry and community organisations, submitted the application to Visit Scotland in order to secure the maximum amount possible from this scheme for the area. Projects supported were focused on recognised “needs” where there were particular problems identified. A further round of RTIF has been announced by the Scottish Government.

The fund was introduced in order to improve the visitor experiences in rural parts of Scotland that have experienced pressure on their infrastructure or negative impacts on communities due to significant increases in visitor numbers.

Projects that will be supported in this first round of RTIF funding include: