Building Briefs – September 26th

Councillors have approved a spending programme for the latest £3.25 million phase of an external wall insulation programme in Dundee.

Work at Broughty Ferry and Craigiebank will cover the homes of both council tenants and owner occupiers at another 415 properties.

Aberdeen City Council unveils free insulation programme

Social enterprise Scarf and Aberdeen City Council have announced a scheme funded by the Scottish Government offering a raft of free insulation measures to homes across the city.

Warmer Homes Aberdeen is managed and delivered in partnership between Scarf and the local authority and offers free loft, underfloor and cavity wall insulation for privately owned and rented properties which meet certain criteria.

This is the latest project of its type to be funded by the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Projects for Scotland Area Based Schemes (HEEPS: ABS) funding which aims to improve the quality of housing across the country and continues both organisations’ aims of reducing both fuel poverty and carbon emissions. Householders will benefit from more energy efficient homes to help reduce their fuel spend, as a result of better insulation.

Properties that meet any one of the following criteria are eligible for the scheme: Council tax A-C, householders with a child under the age of five, anyone in receipt of state pension, any household within postcode area AB11 8-9 AB16 and AB24 as well as private landlords who rent out only one property.

Contractor BCA Insulation is scheduled to begin work in September 2018 with the project accepting referrals until January 2019.

Revamped Inverness care home officially opened by Provost

A recently refurbished care home in Inverness has held an official opening event to give guests a first glimpse of its new facilities and an opportunity to meet its care team.

Culduthel Care Home was acquired by Meallmore last April and the care provider has now fully transformed the care home to significantly enhance its offering for residents.

Special guest Provost of Inverness Helen Carmichael joined residents, staff and guests for the celebrations, gave a speech and unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion.

Following the revamp, Culduthel Care Home has 62 fully furnished en-suite bedrooms and six luxurious living/dining areas, as well as a cinema, two café areas and a hairdressing and beauty salon for a spot of pampering.

Options for A96 dualling scheme to go on display

A series of public exhibitions are being held during the week of October 8 to let the public and road users see and comment on a number of initial options that have been developed for the 26 mile section of the A96 between East of Huntly and Aberdeen.

The identification of these options follows initial design and assessment work along with consideration of feedback received to date.

Details of the public exhibitions:

Monday 8th October

Inverurie Town Hall, Market Place, Inverurie AB51 3SN

Tuesday 9th October

Inverurie Town Hall, Market Place, Inverurie AB51 3SN

Wednesday 10th October

Stewarts Hall, 15-17 Gordon Street, Huntly, AB54 8AJ

Thursday 11th October

Kinellar Community Hall, Fintray Road, Blackburn, Aberdeenshire AB21 0JQ

All exhibitions run from 12:00 noon until 7:00pm

Progress made at Paisley town centre development

Glasgow-based construction and manufacturing firm CCG (Scotland) Ltd is currently on site at a new housing development in Paisley town centre.

The project at Wellmeadow Street is being delivered on behalf of Sanctuary Homes and consists of 39 homes including apartments and two-storey houses up to three bedrooms.

Works began in June 2018 and are set to be complete within a year thanks to the use of offsite construction and CCG’s ‘iQ’ timber frame system. The panelised solution is manufactured in CCG’s bespoke ‘offsite’ manufacturing facility and is delivered to site with insulation, internal wall linings, windows and doors in place.

Glenrothes Energy Network road works progressing

Fife Council has said that businesses in Queensway Industrial Estate in Glenrothes are “open as normal” as the Glenrothes Energy Network road works progress.

Temporary road closures are necessary to carry out the works safely. Three way traffic lights are being used to direct the traffic. This is leading to queues and delays.

All businesses in the area are open as usual. For people travelling to Asda and McDonalds please follow the sign-posted diversion via Fullerton Road. Temporary traffic lights are in use on Flemington Road so allow extra time when travelling as delays are unavoidable.

Glenrothes Energy Network is a £24 million collaborative local heat scheme between the Scottish Government, RWE and Fife Council. It will provide sustainable low carbon heat to a mix of industrial, commercial, community and domestic properties in Glenrothes as well as the Fife House complex.

Tenants welcomed into new Highland Council homes in Grantown

Highland Council has taken delivery of 10 new houses in Grantown on Spey and this week local councillors Bill Lobban and Muriel Cockburn paid a visit to welcome Lorna Cottam and her two children to their new home.

The development at Beachen Court is made up of four 2 bedroom flats with the ground floor flats suitable for people with disabilities, four 2 bedroom houses and two 3 bedroom houses.

The houses are well insulated and have electric heating coupled with photo-voltaic panels which generate electricity to keep the tenants’ fuel costs low. Each home also has its own loc-bloc car park near the front door.

The project was commissioned, designed and managed by Highland Council’s development and infrastructure service. RS McLeod Ltd carried out the construction works which started on site in July last year.