Building Briefs – December 2nd

• City Building helps sleigh bells ring for Baby’s First Christmas

Apprentices gave Santa Claus a gift of his own this year, building him a new grotto and sleigh just in time for the popular Baby’s First Christmas event, which sees hundreds of Glasgow’s new-borns visit the City Chambers to meet the Deputy Lord Provost and Santa Claus.

A team of six apprentice joiners and painters spent six weeks designing, building and decorating a grotto, which has been made to look like a log cabin with a cosy interior. Apprentice painters used state-of-the-art digital printing technology to print the log-style design, along with a roaring fireplace inside.

Santa has also received a custom sleigh, finished with a sparkling paint.

The Baby’s First Christmas event is a tradition in Glasgow, with each baby receiving a limited-edition silver Christmas decoration to mark the occasion.

• Work To Begin On Vinery at Banff transformation

Aberdeenshire Council has announced that work on the long-awaited transformation of the historical Vinery at Banff will commence this week.

The Vinery - the former greenhouse which previously served Duff House – is a B-listed building which has been on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland for many years.

In this first phase of works, roof repairs will be carried out on the bothy section of the building, which has been in a poor state for a number of years.

These works - funded through a £284,832 grant from the Scottish Government Town Centre Fund - will ensure that the bothy is wind and watertight while a second phase is developed.

Community consultation undertaken last year identified the preferred use for the buildings as a ‘community garden and horticultural skills base’ which was closely followed in votes by a ‘community kitchen and café’.

It is hoped that phase two will see the full restoration of the building which will bring the facility back into use for the growing of fruit and veg through the GrowBanff@TheVinery project.

The outcome of a funding bid for phase two works is expected in January.

• School celebrates extension completion with community open day

Pupils and staff have moved into a new extension at Invergarry Primary School. 

The extension replaces an old classroom unit and provides two classrooms with toilets and a cloakroom area linked to the former school house. 

The house, which had been vacant for some time, has been converted to form an entrance and reception area, office/meeting room and a fully accessible pupil toilet/changing facility. 

The total investment was £800,000 which has been funded from the Highland Council’s Capital Programme. 

The work was carried out by Morrison Construction and delivered in partnership with the council’s property team in the development and infrastructure service.

• Housebuilder spruces Haddington up with new Christmas tree

David Wilson Homes has brought some festive cheer to the town of Haddington, by gifting the local community council a cash donation of almost £500 to help fund a second Christmas tree.

The firm, which is currently building Dovecot Mill on the outskirts of the town, provided the funds, which will be used to light up the town’s Nungate area and Community Centre. For the first time ever Haddington will celebrate Christmas with two community Christmas trees.

Members of the community gathered on Sunday 1 December, where the lights were switched on, marking the beginning of the festive season. Visitors were also treated to entertainment from carol singers, bagpipes as well as the chance to visit Santa’s Grotto.

• Further consultation required for Aberdeen housing proposal

Planners at Aberdeen City Council have requested further consultation into plans for a housing development.

Bancon Homes submitted a pre-application notice for the residential and retail development in the area to the south of North Deeside Road in Milltimber.

However, council planners have said that the public consultation involved would not suffice given the scale of the proposals.

The developer was urged in a letter to organise further public consultation events alongside displaying banners at the proposed site for the development.

The letter also said: “Once the required consultation has taken place, a pre-application consultation report should be produced and then submitted to the planning authority at the same time as the planning application.

“The report should specify who has been consulted and set out what steps were taken to comply with the statutory requirements.”

The first of the public consultation events will take place at the Deeside Christian Fellowship in Milltimber on November 4 from 2-7pm.

Further consultations are to be organised at Milltimber School and Milltimber Community Centre.

• East Ayrshire Council wins two planning awards

Karl Doroszenko, Scott Shanks, John Semple,
Michael Keane and Kieran Wardrop

Members of East Ayrshire Council’s Planning and Economic Development Service and Vibrant Communities teams were celebrating after two of their projects picked up top awards at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning annual ceremony.

Shortlisted for two of five categories, Plans and Partnership, the teams came out top with prizes for their work in two areas, the East Ayrshire Coalfields Initiative and Placemaking Plans.

Regeneration project officer John Semple, community worker Kieran Wardrop and John Sharp of Newmilns Regeneration Association picked up the Plans Award for their innovative work in developing Placemaking Plans for communities across East Ayrshire.

Placemaking Plans bring together planners, communities and individuals to look at preferred and practical solutions for improvement of towns, villages and communities, looking at issues such as transport networks, derelict buildings, green space, parking and opportunities for leisure and community activities.

Using a programme of formal and informal meetings, events and consultations communities are empowered to have a big influence on future decision making and funding opportunities for local improvements.

Once the process is complete, each community has a Placemaking Plan and Map which informs the local priorities for improvements becoming part of planning policy as guidance to the Local Development Plan.

East Ayrshire has led the way in Scotland in developing its Placemaking processes, with three plans now complete and another five in progress.

Daisy Whytock, Scott Shanks and Karl Doroszenko also triumphed, picking up the Partnership Award for their work with East Ayrshire Coalfields Initiative. With their partners and a squad of enthusiastic local volunteers, they have managed to achieve the restoration of 741 hectares of peatland within the coalfield area.

The volunteers have been trained to assist with site monitoring. They have acquired skills in plant identification and use of tools alongside the health and social benefits gained from volunteering outdoors.

By making sure that the habitat quality and hydrology have been improved the team has helped reduce the flood risk in the area, contained millions of tonnes of peatland carbon and improved the water quality in local rivers, habitat quality and connectivity, to protect what is an internationally important area for biodiversity.