Building Briefs – June 15th

Urgent preventative work to stop the quay wall at Glasgow’s Windmillcroft Quay from collapsing into the River Clyde is about to get underway.

The interim repair work, which will cost the 278 homeowners at Windmillcroft Quay a total of £130,000 (approximately £470 each) will begin on 15 June 2016 and should be complete within four weeks. This will involve the re-grading and lowering of the ground beside Riverview Gardens to relieve the pressure bearing on the quay wall in the section most vulnerable, and will include the dismantling of a section of the quay wall to prevent its collapse into the river.

In August 2014, Glasgow City Council erected temporary fencing to close the core path at Windmillcroft Quay at the Waterfront Development, which affects Riverview Gardens, Riverview Place and Riverview Drive, as the quay wall was in danger of collapsing into the River Clyde.

There are ongoing discussions regarding the legal responsibilities for the repair of the wall, however owners are doing everything possible to move things forward, including paying for the emergency works, without affecting their legal position. It is estimated that carrying out a long term solution, which involves strengthening the wall with rock armour, will cost between £4m - £5m. However, if preventative steps hadn’t been taken at this stage, and the wall were to collapse, the costs would rise significantly.

Speirs Gumley, who factors the Waterfront development, has been working closely with the homeowners, the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, local constituency MSP Nicola Sturgeon, Taylor Wimpey (who acquired Laing Homes – the original builders of the development) and John Laing Group plc (parent company of the former Laing Homes), to reach an agreement on funding the cost of repairs for a long term solution.

Another A9 Dualling contract award

Following on from a million pound ground investigation contract awarded last week, a further contract, worth over two million pounds, has been awarded today.

The contract, to progress the A9 Dualling programme, has been awarded to Soil Engineering Geoservices Ltd.

Ground Investigation work on the over 13 mile Killiecrankie to Glen Garry section of the A9 is expected to begin next month and be completed by the end of the year.

Perth City Hall could become new cultural attraction

Councillors will next week be asked to consider the future of the former Perth City Hall, including proposals to develop it as a new visual arts attraction for the city.

The news comes just a day after Councillor Ian Miller, Leader of the Administration for Perth & Kinross Council, announced that he would be calling for the Stone of Destiny to be brought to Perth as part of a multi-million pound investment in cultural attractions in the city.

The Perth City Plan – Smart Growth for Perth City, developed by the private sector-led Perth City Development Board and supported by elected members, identifies the need for a new cultural attraction to help deliver on Perth’s potential in the cultural tourism market.

Earlier this year councillors instructed the council’s senior officers to progress site appraisals for the new visitor attraction. The result recommends Perth City Hall as the location.

The proposal would maximise the potential of the building, enabling a remodelling to create modern exhibition space that is capable of accommodating national and international quality exhibits alongside the council’s own substantial museum collections. The wider public areas surrounding the building would also be invested in to create a more dynamic civic space.

RoS launches single official UK house price index

The Registers of Scotland (RoS) has announced the publication of the first single official UK House Price Index covering statistics up to April 2016 and now to be published on a monthly basis from now on.

The 2010 National Statistician’s Review of Official House Price Statistics recommended the production of a “single definitive house price index produced by the official statistics producer community”.

Addressing this recommendation, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Land Registry for England and Wales (Land Registry), RoS and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland (LPSNI) have worked together to develop the UK HPI.

The average price of a residential property in April 2016 Scotland increased by 3.3 per cent when compared with the previous year and by 1.5 per cent when compared with the previous month.

The biggest price change over the last year was in East Renfrewshire where the average price increased by 6.1 per cent to £200,718.

Residential sales volumes in Scotland in February 2016 were 5,507, an increase of 7.7 per cent on the previous year. The City of Edinburgh showed the biggest volume of sales in February with 664 sales.

The average price for a new build property is £188,627, an increase of 6.8 per cent on the previous year, while the average price for an existing resold property is £136,335, an increase of 3.1 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a property purchased by a former owner occupier is £165,349, an increase of 4.8 per cent on the previous year. The average price for property purchased by a first time buyer is £112,374, an increase of 1.6 per cent on the previous year.

The average price for a cash sale is £127,180, an increase of 2.1 per cent on the previous year, while the average price for property purchased with a mortgage is £143,667, also an increase of 3.8 per cent on the previous year.

Keepmoat trainee went from job fair to job offer in weeks

A talented trainee from Port Glasgow has landed his dream job in construction, after approaching Action for Children at a job fair and impressing his bosses on a 13 week work placement.

Tyrone McIntyre, 17 attended a local job fair in Greenock while he was still in school to look at alternative career paths. He spoke with Action for Children, which is funded by Skills Development Scotland, and the organisation was able to place him on a project which led to work with housing and community regeneration specialist, Keepmoat.

Tyrone trained with Keepmoat subcontractor Advanced Construction Scotland (ACS) on a new build project in Greenock, where the firm is building 45 new homes for Oak Tree Housing Association – who funded his placement. Oak Tree Housing Association has cooperated with Action for Children to produce training and employment for young people in Inverclyde over a number of years and several projects.

Contractor announced for new Hawick 3G pitch

The firm that will construct Hawick’s new £1 million 3G sports pitch has been announced.

Malcolm Construction will deliver the project at the Volunteer Park site.

The company has considerable experience in installing artificial sports pitches and previously worked with Scottish Borders Council through the creation of the 2G pitch at Selkirk High School, which opened last year.

Work is expected to start later this month, with the facility due to be completed this autumn.