Building Briefs – June 3rd

• Moat Brae opens following £8m revamp

Among the guests at Friday afternoon’s event, which was held to thank supporters and funders and welcome future partners, was cabinet secretary for culture and tourism Fiona Hyslop MSP.

Saved from demolition 10 years ago the beautiful Georgian property overlooking the river Nith, in Dumfries, has been restored and transformed into Scotland’s new National Centre for Storytelling and Children’s Literature.

As Patron of the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust (PPMBT) Joanna Lumley championed the £8 million fundraising campaign which turned the derelict building into an international visitor attraction expected to attract 31,000 people a year and bring £1.3m to the area’s economy.

Moat Brae was where the young J.M. Barrie and his friends played the games that inspired Peter Pan, and the trust’s ambition has been to make it into a place that will fire young people’s imaginations and creativity.

Among the key partners are Heritage Lottery Fund, The Castansa Trust, Historic Environment Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Government, Dumfries & Galloway Council and Creative Scotland and The Robertson Trust. There have also been many other funders.

• New East Renfrewshire council homes handed over to tenants

Delighted tenants have moved into their brand new council homes in Barrhead, marking the first social housing builds by East Renfrewshire Council for a generation.

The development on Robertson Street/Cross Arthurlie St, which was the first of three council sites to get underway, is made up of four three-bedroom houses and nine one-bedroom flats, including a fully adapted wheelchair property, and are now home to four families and nine tenants in the 60+ age group.

Along with the homes on Fenwick Drive, they are the first of over 200 social houses which will be constructed in the coming years, with work at Blackbyres Court due to complete in late Autumn.

• CALA confirms launch for Leith waterfront homes

A new residential community comprising a selection of apartments, colonies and townhouses is set to launch on the capital’s waterfront next month.

Located in the historic port of Leith, Waterfront Plaza by CALA Homes (East) will launch its first phase on July 13. A selection of one, two and three bedroom apartments and colony apartments and duplexes will be available for sale.

As well as bringing modern housing to Leith, CALA has also given a contemporary twist to one of the city’s most iconic styles of home – the colony. First built in 1850, the housetype is widely recognised as a defining feature of Edinburgh’s architectural history.

• Emergency department to expand at Livingston hospital

NHS Lothian has approved capital funding for an ambitious programme to expand and transform the Emergency Department (ED) at St John’s Hospital, Livingston.

NHS Lothian and West Lothian Integration Joint Board (IJB) developed the proposition together over recent months to upgrade facilities, redesign existing space and expand the footprint of the busy ED department which receives between 150 and 200 patients a day.

The plans represent a major capital investment of £3.96 million in St John’s emergency care services and will enable staff to manage rising demand, see patients more swiftly and deal with the current and expected increase in serious and complex cases. 

More assessment space and treatment bays, a better waiting area and a dedicated minor injuries unit are just some of the improvements included in the plan.

The work at St John’s is due to be completed in the autumn.

• Edinburgh Council first to support tree charter

Councillors from across the political spectrum in Edinburgh are adding their signatures to a UK-wide Charter for Trees, Woods and People, the first local authority in Scotland to do so.

The Tree Charter, launched in 2017 on the 800th anniversary of the 1217 Charter of the Forest, sets out ten principles for a society in which trees and society can stand stronger together. UK woodland conservation charity, Woodland Trust, is leading the project forward.

The Tree Charter sets out ten key principles which signatories are demonstrating they agree with and, where applicable, that they are committed to embedding in their work or approach.