Building Briefs - February 15th

• Work starts on replacement bridge over Douglas Water

• New £1.3m maintenance project begins on A9 Cromarty Bridge

A new £1.3 million maintenance project on the A9 Cromarty Bridge is under way which will ensure the bridge remains protected against scour for years to come.

The project involves the installation of rock armour around six of the bridge’s pier foundations, that are located within the tidal estuary. Around 9,000 tonnes of rock will be installed around the piers using an excavator on top of a barge anchored to the seabed, offering protection from tidal erosion and ensure the bridge remains safe for years to come.

The programme of scour protection works is expected to take around three months to complete.

As the majority of the project will take place underneath the bridge, delays to traffic are expected to be minimal, however some off-peak traffic management will be required on occasion to allow for the safe delivery of materials to the site.

A temporary speed restriction of 30mph will be enforced at the northern end of the bridge during the project to help protect the workforce at the site compound, which is located at the layby to the north of the bridge.

The works will be closely supervised by BEAR Scotland’s Environmental team to ensure that the works do not impact on the bird, mammal and fish species that are associated with the estuary.

• Shepherd sells prime multi-let industrial investment asset in South Lanarkshire to Northern Trust on behalf of London private landlord for £1.245m

Acting on behalf of commercial property landlords Structadene Group, Shepherd Chartered Surveyors has sold a prime multi-let industrial investment asset in South Lanarkshire to property investor Northern Trust for £1.245 million, having received 11 offers at closing date.

The properties are located within Whistleberry Industrial Estate, an established and popular industrial and distribution location within Blantyre, west of Hamilton, which serves as the major services and administrative centre for South Lanarkshire, eight miles south east of Glasgow city centre.

Whistleberry Industrial Estate comprises eight modern industrial units contained within three industrial terraces arranged around a central communal yard area on a 2.17-acre site. Each unit features workshop/industrial space along with office accommodation, loading bay, dedicated car parking, with staff welfare and wc facilities.

• Plans for 16 eco lodges in Highland forest

Ballachulish-based Ossian Developments Ltd has lodged plans for 16 eco lodges a reception building, seasonal staff quarters and house, near Caberfeidh Braes in Wester Ross.

The proposed development would be in 1.9 hectares at the western edge of Pairc Mhor Wood, overlooking Ullapool and Loch Broom.

Supporting information from the architects said Pairc Mhor Wood comprises 38.06 hectares of mixed conifer woodland. The proposed development occupies 1.9ha.

“The intention for Pairc Mhor Woodland as a whole is to develop it for recreation, tourism and community purposes, with a plan to move over time from commercial to a diversity of use, with a focus on native woodland around sensitive, high-end tourist development,” said the report.

“The layout of the tourism lodges is designed to fit within this woodland setting and to use the existing natural topography to provide screening and shelter and reduce impact on both adjacent lodges and more distant neighbours.

“Building on very prominent sites will be avoided, such as the ‘Viewpoint Rock’. Lodges will be tucked below this prominence and this area kept open and windswept for a dramatic arrival experience.”

• Flats plan submitted for North Queensferry hotel

Plans to transform a historic 200-year-old hotel, which sits just yards from the Forth Bridge, have been lodged with Fife Council.

SAAS Festival Inns wants to turn the Albert Hotel in North Queensferry into four luxury flats providing spectacular views across the bridge, a World Heritage Site.

The C-listed former nine-bedroom hotel, restaurant and bar in Main Street, which sits in the heart of town’s conservation area, has remained empty since it closed in 2017.

The owners say the hotel is now unviable and have submitted a proposal to transform the 19th Century building into a residential property, having already undertaken the removal of the bar and some of the floor and beams on the ground floor because of wood rot caused by damp.

Plans would involve creating three three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom flat, all of which would include a modern balcony overlooking the waterfront and the iconic Forth Bridge, given World Heritage Site status by Unesco in 2015.

In a design statement submitted as part of the application, architects for SAAS Festival Inn said the development “provides a new lease of life to the existing listed building, transforming a currently empty and unused property in disrepair at the heart of a small town into several high-quality homes.”

It added: “In refurbishing and restoring the property, we will also protect it for the future, preventing further water ingress which has already caused damage to the ground-floor timbers.

“In effect, allowing the conversion of this property will allow it to be safeguarded for future generations at the heart of North Queensferry.”

• Holiday lets set to be built near Strathyre

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park planners have approved an application for holiday lets at Stroneslaney Cottage off Stroneslaney Road.

The single track road leads from Strathyre to Balquhidder through and on the edge of commercial forestry. It runs parallel to the A84.

Stroneslaney Cottage is located within a group of three dwellings at a point where the road bends west to Balquhidder. The proposed development site includes land to the south of the cottage on both sides of the road which mainly unused agricultural land.

The plans will see the existing cottage extended to increase it from two-bedroom to three-bedroom, plus a semi-detached 1-bed dwelling built. Two further semi-detached dwellings would be built to the south - one two-bed and one one-bed.

Further south and on the opposite side of Stroneslaney Road two detached one-bed dwellings would be built.

The four additional properties would be used as short-term holiday lets.

• Scottish economy’s £1.9bn boost from walking and cycling

A new report from NatureScot, Sustrans and Scottish Canals demonstrates the huge benefits of the network for the economy, tourism, health and wellbeing.

The NWCN includes Scotland’s Great Trails, the National Cycle Network and Scottish Canals towpaths and stretches 6,879km across the country.

Walkers and cyclists made 145.1 million trips on the network in 2019, spending almost £2 billion and supporting around 27,500 jobs.

Use of the routes and the associated reduction in car travel is estimated to have contributed a further £108 million to the economy, most significantly through improvements to health outcomes.

Walking and cycling trips on the network are estimated as taking 19.5 million car journeys off the road over the year, saving 7.1 million kg of CO2e.

Meanwhile the vast majority of recreational bikers and hikers said the network had helped them to increase their physical activity (84%), improve their wellbeing (75%) and boost their overall life satisfaction (93%).

Since 2015, NatureScot, Sustrans and Scottish Canals have been working together on an ambitious programme of improvements to the network, spending £30m on improving 625km of strategic walking and cycling routes.

Work has included upgrading and resurfacing routes, improving links with public transport, bridge building, signposting, removing stiles and replacing gates, installing benches and improving lighting.