Building Briefs - August 27th

• Ocean Kinetics lifts 3,500 tonnes of Buchan Alpha structure from the sea

The pontoons are now on decommissioning pads at the Greenhead Base in Lerwick and will be dismantled and sent away for recycling over the coming months by sub-contractor, John Lawrie.

Ocean Kinetics was awarded the contract for the safe removal and recycling of the Buchan Alpha production rig in Shetland by Veolia.

• Green light for Peterhead nursery

Planning permission has been granted for a new nursery in Peterhead that will cater for up to 120 children.

The application submitted by Aberdeenshire Council sought permission for the new nursery, car parking, service yard and outdoor play area at Dales Park.

Speaking at the online Buchan Area Committee meeting that approved the plan, councillor Stephen Smith said: “I’m quite happy to see this application come forward and have no issue with the principal of it.”

• Deadline extended for comments on Cairngorm masterplan document

Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) has extended the original August 31 deadline to agree a consensus vision for the future of Cairngorm Estate.

The agency’s ‘Cairngorm Mountain – Towards a vision and masterplan’ document was published on July 24 with an online questionnaire going live shortly afterwards.

The document was the result of widespread and detailed consultation carried out in February and March this year with statutory authorities, local community and stakeholder organisations across Scotland.

The online survey enables people to comment on these areas, as a final stage in the masterplan’s development.

• 30 day consultation period for Orkney wind farm proposals

The Scottish Government has begun a 30-day consultation period on Orkney Islands Council’s plans for a wind farm at Quanterness in St Ola.

The planning application for the development was called in by the Scottish Government in March following a request by the council, on the grounds of national importance.

The application will be determined by Scottish Ministers, with the council now a consultee in the process, rather than being the planning authority.

Additional information has been submitted regarding the application which has triggered this consultation period. The submission of additional information is standard practice where comments have been received during a previous consultation period.

The proposed Quanterness project could see the installation of six turbines up to a maximum height of 149.9m on the site.

The project is part of ‘Orkney’s Community Wind Farm Project’ which has seen the council investigate three sites for potential community-owned wind farms in the county – at Quanterness, at Wee Fea in Hoy, and Faray in the North Isles.

If the proposals and sites are found through the planning process to be appropriate and the project goes forward, it could generate significant income and community benefit for Orkney. All profit would stay in the islands, enabling the Council to preserve and enhance key services that local people value and depend upon and providing a foundation for communities to drive transformational projects of their own.

The developments will also allow the council to join other local developers in making a meaningful contribution to a Needs Case for a new interconnector for Orkney, thereby substantially supporting the vital renewable energy industry in Orkney.

Full documentation for the proposal, including additional information on the project supplied to the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) by the council, has been published on the DPEA website. On accessing the website, enter the case reference CIN-ORK-001 in the ‘Search by case reference:’ box to find all documents relating to this case.