Building Briefs – December 3rd

• Inverness CAB office transformed into new city centre homes

The project at 103 Academy Street was developed by ARK Estates while WGC Scotland was the main contractor.  

The council remains on track to provide much-needed affordable homes. Members of the environment, development and infrastructure committee earlier this month approved the council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan for 2019-2024 that will see a minimum of 500 units being built each year of which 70% will be for affordable rent and 30% for low cost home ownership.

This development is part of the wider regeneration of Academy Street and comes after the announcement made earlier this week that work to create 37 flats and four retail units at the former Farm foods building has started. A total of 23 of the residential properties will be for rent from the Highland Council and the remaining 14 will be mid-market homes for the Highland Housing Alliance.

• Plans lodged to demolish former Aberdeen school

Aberdeen City Council has submitted a building warrant application to demolish the former Kincorth Academy school buildings on Kincorth Circle.

The school closed its doors for the final time at the end of the last academic year in July, with pupils moving to the new Lochside Academy in Nigg in August.

Since it closed, vandals have been depriving residents in the area of sleep by tampering with alarms inside the building.

Members of the council’s capital programme committee unanimously approved the business case for the demolition earlier this year.

The site has been earmarked for council housing, although detailed plans have yet to come forward.

• Courthouse and Streetscape schemes completed in Selkirk

Selkirk has celebrated its improved town centre as part of its annual Christmas lights switch-on ceremony.

A day of festive fun culminated in the official opening of the Selkirk Streetscape Scheme and renovated Sir Walter Scott Courthouse, marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of the Courthouse, with the iconic building’s refurbished clock faces and stained glass window switched on for the occasion.

The £431,000 Courthouse restoration was the centrepiece of the Selkirk Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) and has safeguarded the town centre building - where Sir Walter Scott dispensed justice to the people of Selkirkshire in the early 19th century – for many years to come.

Works on the building were extended thanks to additional funding from Selkirk Common Good and Scottish Borders Council and included repairs to the cockerel weather vane, refurbishment of the clock faces and extensive repairs to its defective stonework.

The Courthouse works were co-ordinated alongside the £450,000 Selkirk Streetscape Scheme, which has resulted in various improvements to the town centre including safer access for bus passengers, better seating, improved pedestrian crossings, better road surfacing for drivers and provision for Market Place to host events and markets.

• Pitching in to help improve sporting facilities at East Dunbartonshire schools

Work to replace outdated school sports pitches continues in East Dunbartonshire.

Bishopbriggs schools Balmuildy Primary and Meadowburn Primary will now benefit from new pitches thanks to contributions from the private sector - secured through the planning process.

Members of the Place, Neighbourhood & Corporate Assets Committee agreed to progress with new pitches at a meeting last week.

Councillors also received an update on the £1.45m pitch replacement programme, involving primary schools Castlehill, Baljaffray, Colquhoun Park, Clober, Craigdhu, Milngavie, Mosshead, Harestanes, Gartconner.

Castlehill Primary’s new Multi-Use Games Area pitch was officially opened in late 2017 (pictured), with work moving ahead on all the others involved in the programme.

Balmuildy Primary and Meadowburn Primary have now been added to the list thanks to additional funds secured from the private sector through the planning process. Consultation will take place with schools to identify the preferred pitch surface.

Committee members were also informed that work is continuing on a new synthetic rugby pitch and floodlighting for Lenzie Academy, again using contributions from the private sector. A full planning application will be submitted prior to any work progressing.

• Plans approved to turn former Aberdeen guesthouse into funeral directors

Plans have been approved to convert a former guesthouse into a funeral directors.

Mark Shaw Funeral Services applied for permission to change the use of Abbotswell Guest House into a funeral directors.

Under the plans the building would be linked to the funeral business via a new corridor.

Planning documents state the proposals would allow the firm to expand without having to relocate.

Loco Works secures a grand slam for annual business lunch

Inverurie Loco Works Football Club’s ninth annual Business Lunch, sponsored by CALA Homes and held at The Marcliffe last month, celebrated another successful year as guest speaker, Sue Barker, inspired attendees with stories of her tennis career and life as a television presenter.

The British sports personality – who was secured as this year’s star speaker by the Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL) club – addressed more than 460 guests at the prestigious Inverurie Loco Works FC’s fundraising event, which is now recognised as a must-attend event among business people across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

CALA Homes came on board once again as the headline sponsor for the 2018 event while Sue’s successful stint on the stage helped secure the business lunch’s reputation as the most prestigious business function in the region.

Comedian Bill Copeland also entertained guests throughout the event, which raises vital funds to support the club in its bid to remain one of the top teams in the SHFL.

• Russells makes a splash with special donation

Life-saving charity Nith Inshore Rescue has become the latest organisation to benefit from roof tile manufacturer Russell Roof Tiles’ fundraising efforts.

This was the first year that Russell Roof Tiles chose to fundraise for Dumfries-based Nith Inshore Rescue and the voluntary search and rescue lifeboat service was delighted to receive a £2k donation from the team.

The money raised will go towards Nith Inshore Rescue’s vital lifeboat operation and will contribute to the reconditioning and upgrading of its Land Rover ambulance, making it serviceable for many years to come.

Founded in 1981, the service currently operates across Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland and is a vital part of the emergency services and community, responding to incidents such as missing persons, boats in difficulty and people cut off by tides.