Building Briefs - December 22nd

• Taylor Wimpey donates lifesaving defibrillator in Dumbarton

As part of a joint initiative with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the home builder is donating potentially life-saving PADs to communities around the UK to help people who suffer from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

During 2019, the BHF was employed by Taylor Wimpey to train its employees in CPR skills and provide every one of their building sites in the UK with a defibrillator. As part of its commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in the areas in which it builds, Taylor Wimpey is donating the defibrillators to local communities when their developments are completed.

Now that work has finished at The Fairways development the local community Dumbarton are the latest to be gifted a PAD.

A defibrillator is a portable device that can be used by anyone to help restart the heart when someone suffers from a cardiac arrest and has stopped breathing. No specific training is needed and the device will only deliver a shock to the heart if necessary.

When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts. For every minute that passes without defibrillation and CPR the chances of survival decrease by around 10%.

• Barratt West Scotland raises over £12,000 for charity

Barratt Developments is celebrating a record-breaking Christmas with its final Community Fund donations after its charitable efforts topped more than £46,000 in donations across Scotland, including £12,000 in the West of Scotland.

Each year, the housebuilder, which includes both Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, works with a wide range of local causes and has continued to step up its efforts through the Barratt and David Wilson Community Fund, which donates £1,000 to a deserving local cause in each of its three Scottish divisions every month.

The charities are nominated and voted by employees of Barratt Homes with the focus of fund continuing to be on organisations that improve the quality of life for those living in the area and important issues which worsened due to the pandemic.

Barratt West Scotland’s final Community Fund donations of 2020 have gone to Kilmarnock’s Salvation Army to help with a number of projects throughout December and the festive season, including their food and toys appeal.

In partnership with Moores, Barratt Homes will also supply and fit toy-donation charity, Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas, with a brand new kitchen, as well as employees from the housebuilder helping to sort toys ahead of distribution.

In April of this year, Barratt Developments donated over 2,300 items of PPE equipment to hospitals around Scotland to help frontline NHS workers and staff in the fight against COVID-19.

The company also donated 44 defibrillators from its divisional head offices and constructions sites to St Andrew’s First Aid, who assist the NHS and ambulance service on the frontline should they be called upon.

• Construction on Upper Garnock Valley Flood Protection Scheme under way

Work is now well under way to construct the Upper Garnock Valley Flood Protection Scheme.

The major construction project - being delivered on behalf of North Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Government - will focus on four key areas.

Work is now ongoing in Kibirnie to construct a flood retention dam to the north and direct flood defences in the vicinity of Paddockholm Industrial Estate. 

Early in the new year work will begin to construct further defences in the other two areas which are located adjacent to the Powgree Burn in Glengarnock and the Mill Park Estate in Dalry.

The dam will retain water during periods of peak flow to reduce flood risk downstream whilst leaving river flow unaffected at other times. This combined with flood defence walls and embankments will result increased flood protection for these communities which have suffered from a history of flooding, the most recent event being earlier this year in August. 

The project is being delivered by contractor McLaughlin & Harvey and will bring community benefits in line with North Ayrshire Council’s Community Wealth Building Strategy. For this project, the contractor has committed to create new employment opportunities (typically for apprentices and/or unemployed individuals) equivalent to 10 full-time positions for the duration of the contract.

The total scheme costs will be £18m and will be funded jointly between North Ayrshire Council and an 80% contribution from the Scottish Government.

• Royal Dornoch puts bid for £9m clubhouse out to consultation

Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Sutherland is trying at the second attempt for a land deal needed for a new £9 million clubhouse.

The club won planning permission last year for a twin-gabled building to replace the original put up in 1909 – but built in a different location.

The plans envisage creating a building centred on a feature staircase linking two arched entrances to the west and north.

Architect Keppie Design has also added a clock tower on the corner between the first tee and 18th green.

Highland Council has launched a new consultation giving the Dornoch community until March 12 to respond to a proposal to dispose, by new lease, of an area of Common Good land to the club, which is the existing tenant, for the construction of the new clubhouse and for improving access, moving the bowling club and improved car parking.

A previous consultation had begun in January, but it had to be withdrawn after a review because of a challenge that some of the terminology might have been misleading.

The club took on the original lease of the land in 1973.