Building Briefs – September 8th

Construction work is underway on the new £37m Cumbernauld Academy and Cumbernauld Theatre campus - with the school opening to staff and pupils in 2019.

The project is part funded by the Scottish Government’s Scotland’s Schools for the Future Programme and to mark the start of works a ceremonial turf was cut on site yesterday by John Swinney MSP (Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for education and skills).

The event was attended by school pupils, local councillors, Depute Provost Tom Castles, Mark Cairns (Head Teacher of Cumbernauld Academy), along with representatives of Cumbernauld Theatre.

Cumbernauld Academy, which was formed following the merger of Cumbernauld and Abronhill high schools in August 2014, is home to around 980 pupils.

The new campus on South Kildrum Ring Road will have capacity for 1250 pupils as well as a 300 seat replacement venue for the current Cumbernauld Theatre.

Once the construction work is completed then the current school building will be demolished to make way for new external sports facilities.

CALA Homes receives top Aberdeen property accolade

A prestigious Cults development has been recognised in the UK Property Awards in the residential development category for North East Scotland.

CALA Homes (North) will be honoured at the UK Property Awards at the London Lancaster Hotel on October 27 for its The Paddocks at Cults Park development.

The housebuilder will compete against the best property professionals across the UK regions to be recognised in the category.

The first phase of Cults Park – The Paddocks – comprises 44 three, four and five-bedroom semi-detached, detached and terraced homes.

In its 26th year, the UK Property Awards are judged by an independent panel of 70 industry experts, focusing on design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability.

Port of Grangemouth to expand container terminal

The Port of Grangemouth is underway with a major resurfacing development as part of its continual multi-million pound investment which will further increase the capacity of the busy terminal and position the port ahead of the market.

This investment of £1m will upgrade the container terminal’s surfacing to increase the quality, capacity and the speed of servicing vessels with further significant investment planned for 2018.

The work is being carried out by Luddon Construction and will be finished in October in time for the peak volume period. The new resurfaced area is expected to add in the region of 1,000 TEU of additional capacity.

Grangemouth is Scotland’s largest container port, with an overall capacity of 220,000 containers per annum. More than £6 billion worth of goods pass through the port each year including steel plate, timber, paper and equipment for the oil and gas industry.

Moray Council backs whisky distillery and heritage centre plans

Moray Council has approved plans to rejuvenate a rural community by creating a distillery and heritage centre, celebrating its role in the birth of the whisky industry.

Members of the Cabrach Trust group were delighted after their £5.3 million proposals were endorsed by Moray planning officials.

Work on transforming disused steadings at Inverharroch Farm is now scheduled to begin next summer, with a target opening date of 2020.

Bovis profits crumble amid customer compensations

Profits at Bovis Homes have fallen by almost a third after the housebuilder was stung by costs relating to customer complaints over the quality of its homes.

The company saw pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 June plummet 31% to £42.7 million, with the firm also booking exceptional advisory costs linked to defending itself from two aborted takeover attempts from rivals Galliford Try and Redrow.

The group, which focuses its activities on England and Wales, has so far set aside £10.5m to cover remedial work and compensation for affected customers after it was dogged by complaints over homes that were sold unfinished and had electrical and plumbing faults.

Revenue for the period rose 4% to £427.8m, with the average price of the firm’s homes rising 9% to £277,400.

But completions fell 6% to 1,512 following a pledge to slow the rate at which it builds homes in 2017 as part of a “re-set” under new boss Greg Fitzgerald.

Bovis is aiming to build 4,000 homes per year, lower than previous targets of 5,000 to 6,000.

Moray school’s £4.6m refurbishment celebrated

A celebratory assembly was held at Millbank Primary School in Moray when the ribbon was cut on its £4.6 million refurbishment.

A new modular extension has been added to the building, creating four additional classrooms. New boilers, doors and improved insulation were all installed to improve the efficiency of the buildings, as well as full rewiring, replumbing, new and upgraded roofing.

Speaking at the opening, convener of Moray Council, Cllr James Allan, thanked staff for continuing to work through the major rebuilding programme.

He praised the improvements which have been carried out, led by contractors Morrison Construction and funded by Scottish Futures Trust and Moray Council.

Plumber celebrates 25 years at James Frew

Martin McManus, a technician plumber from East Kilbride has recently achieved a jubilee milestone in his career, by reaching an impressive 25 years with James Frew Ltd.

In recognition of Martin’s dedication and service, Roddy Frew, managing director, presented Silverburn gift vouchers.

When not in work, Martin enjoys cycling and everything that comes with family life, especially spending time with his most recent grandchild.

Removal of pedestrian footbridge in Nairn

Work has commenced this week on the Bailey bridge over the River Nairn adjacent to the Harbour, which gives pedestrian access between the harbour and the holiday park.

This bridge was closed to traffic several years ago and pedestrians crossing the river now walk on the main part of the structure. The footpath extension, on the upstream elevation of the bridge, is closed and has been out of use for some considerable time.

The works underway comprise of the removal of the out of use parts of footpath extension which forms a separate attachment to the main bridge. Its removal will not affect pedestrian usage as there will be no change to the main structure.

The redundant footpath components can be re-used and are suitable for installation on a similar structure in Lower Foyers where they will be fitted to provide safe pedestrian crossing.

Milestone reached at Barlanark affordable housing project

The installation of the first timber superstructures marks an important milestone in the construction of a new mid-market rent development at Burnmouth Road in Barlarnark, as work progresses at pace.

Located to the east of Glasgow city centre, close to Garrowhill train station and Edinburgh Road, the 43-home project is being constructed by CCG (Scotland) Ltd for Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) and will be let and managed by Lowther Homes, both of which part of Wheatley Group.

CCG commenced works in May of this year and within a 12 week period the company has completed the installation of the timber superstructures to five of the eight blocks of housing thanks to the use of the CCG iQ enhanced closed panel timber system.

Designed and manufactured off-site in their Cambuslang facility, CCG OSM, the system is delivered to site complete with pre-installed insulation, service zones, windows and doors, ensuring quality and rapid speed of construction as well as offering excellent thermal efficiency properties.

The Bell Street project is being delivered for GHA and the Craigmillar homes for Dunedin Canmore. When completed, both developments will also be let and managed by Lowther Homes.

As part of Wheatley Group and CCG’s in-depth approach to community benefit, a number of initiatives will be delivered as a direct result of the project. Opportunities will be provided for new entrants across all site-based roles as well as work placements for people from the local community.

Also, as a direct result of this project, four of the 22 trade apprentices that joined the CCG Group this August as part of the company’s annual trade apprentice intake, will be based at the site for the first of their four-year apprenticeship programme across bricklaying and plumbing trades.

Burnmouth Road is due for completion in summer-2018.

Edinburgh community group is first to benefit from urban right to buy

A community group in Edinburgh has become the first organisation in an urban area to benefit from community right to buy powers.

Action Porty has taken ownership of the former Portobello Old Parish Church with a view to transforming it into a multi-use community hub.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 gives communities the right to buy land and assets under certain conditions. While the powers have been used widely across rural Scotland, this is the first time permission has been granted to a group within a city to proceed with a purchase.

AWPR - Eight week closure for B977 Echt to Balmedie Road

A section of the B977 Echt to Balmedie Road is expected to close for eight weeks to enable the contractor for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty project (AWPR/B-T) to complete a new section of the B977 and connect it to the existing road.

The road is planned to close, between its junction with the A947 Newmachar Road and Goval House near Dyce, from the week commencing Monday 11 September. Access will be maintained for pedestrians, local residents, local businesses and emergency vehicles.

Diversions will be signed. Road users heading west should travel via the A947 Newmachar Road, the B979 Kinmundy Crossroads and onto the B977 Echt to Balmedie Road. The reverse journey should be taken by those travelling east.