Building Briefs – March 7th

• Borders transport study suggests rail and road improvements

The final report of The Borders Transport Corridors Study-Pre Appraisal has been published today, looking at the improvements that could be made in future.

The study suggests that better bus services to nearby cities and hospitals, enhanced Park and Ride facilities and more active travel options could bring potential benefits for the area.

Further consideration will also be given to improving the rail and road infrastructure as part of Transport Scotland’s wider Strategic Transport Projects Review which is considering strategic connections across Scotland. This will include assessing the potential benefits of dualling sections of the A1 between Dunbar and the border, improvements to the A7 and A68 as well as proposals for extending the Borders railway both southwards towards Carlisle, and eastwards to Berwick-Upon-Tweed. 

• Clackmannanshire Council sets £22m capital budget

Clackmannanshire councillors have agreed a capital budget programme of £22.49 million for the next year as part of a budget setting process.

At a Special Council Meeting yesterday, councillors approved the revenue budget of £125.549m to spend on services in 2019/2020.

Last week Clackmannanshire Council approved the Housing Revenue budget and its capital budget programme which includes investment in the School Estate, Roads and Footpaths Infrastructure, Community Regeneration and City Region Deal projects.

It was also agreed that Clackmannanshire’s Council Tax is to rise by 4%, with the new Band D rate set at £1,266.63.

Councillors also agreed a net resource transfer for adult social care of £17.114m (subject to confirmation of the council’s allocation of specific funding) to the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership.

The budget was agreed following engagement with local residents and organisations on officer budget proposals, details of which were presented to councillors.

• Edinburgh approves electric vehicle infrastructure plan

A strategy to install a network of on-street electric vehicle charging ‘hubs’ across the capital has moved one step forward, following approval by councillors.

Members of the City of Edinburgh Council’s transport and environment committee yesterday agreed a detailed project plan for the installation of charging infrastructure, including selected locations for 66 on-street charging points across 14 hubs.

The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure business case, which recognised the rising popularity of electric vehicles in the city, was given the go-ahead by committee in October and proposed the implementation of 211 on-street charging points by 2023 at a cost of £3.3 million. Improvements to infrastructure are predicted to result in carbon savings of 7,715 tonnes and savings in Nitrogen Dioxide of over 14 tonnes.

A comprehensive project plan for installing the first tranche of chargers by 2020 addresses key components for delivery, such as charger location, a possible enforcement regime and project governance. This will be supported by a £2.2m grant from Transport Scotland.

Prior to the installation phase, which is expected to last from January to December 2020, a new Project Board will be established, supported by the Electric Vehicle Working Group, which will meet regularly to oversee implementation, providing robust governance of the plan.

• Scottish Government sets new Modern Apprentice target

More than 29,000 people will benefit from Modern Apprenticeship opportunities next year in a continued effort to support youth employment, fair work minister Jamie Hepburn has announced.  

The 29,000 target includes Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships and puts Scotland on course to reach a longstanding commitment to 30,000 new apprenticeship starts each year by 2020.

This increased goal will help give more people the opportunity to work, learn and earn while providing employers with the skills they need for their workforce. The 2018/19 target of 28,000 Modern Apprenticeship starts is on course to be met.

• £500,000 plans for Dundee community and council house improvements

More than £240,000 could be spent on boiler replacements to council homes in Dundee.

Dundee City Council’s neighbourhood services committee will hear on March 11 of plans for replacements in 58 houses at Glenclova Terrace, Glenmarkie Terrace, Glenmoy Avenue, Glenogil Terrace and Glenprosen Terrace.

Meanwhile, the committee will also consider spending of just over £250,000 on environmental improvements in the Hilltown area of the city.

The proposals will see new surfacing and playpark equipment, along with benches and trees, in the area between Tulloch Court and Bonnethill Court.

• Council approves new park development at Ravenscraig

North Lanarkshire Council has approved the development of a new public park at Ravenscraig.

Located on a former steelworks site, the park will include a play area, sensory garden, visitor hub with a disabled toilet and changing facility, events area, a network of walking and cycling routes, a multi sports pitch and an outdoor gym.

A feature path will be created along the line of the historic steel strip mill.

The play area will have climbing walls, swings, trampolines, bouncing discs, a climbing tower, zip slide, talk tubes, balance beams and posts, incorporating accessible facilities for children and young people with mobility issues.

Seating areas will surround the play area and be located throughout the park.

The council’s planning committee granted planning permission for the facility, which sits directly in front of the regional sports facility, on February 28.

Initial funding for the project will come from the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund.

The council is tendering for contractors and expect work to start on site in the spring.

• Industrial property sector in Aberdeen shows signs of recovery as oil price stabilises

Latest research from global real estate advisor CBRE has revealed that the industrial market in Aberdeen continues to exhibit healthy signs of recovery, with a record number of transactions taking place in 2018.

Take-up totaled 658,000 sq ft for the year – in line with the five-year average and an increase of over 14 per cent from 2017 and over 50 per cent from H2 2017.

Smaller deals dominated, with sub 10,000 sq ft lettings accounting for 73 per cent of all transactions. This suggests growing confidence in the market from smaller-scaled companies that are now planning for future business growth.

The two largest deals of 2018 were both out at Westhill with TechnipFMC and Proserv acquiring industrial facilities extending to 34,200 and 59,800 sq ft respectively.

Industrial supply levels at the close of 2018 stood at 2.43m sq ft, a rise of 7 per cent from 2017, an encouragingly more conservative increase than in previous years and a further sign the market may be levelling out. Despite high supply levels, there is a low amount of prime industrial stock available within Aberdeen, with prime rents expected to remain at £9.00, £18.00 and £2.00 per sq ft for the warehouse, office and concrete yard elements respectively.

• Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired building ‘may have to be demolished’

A Scottish design studio described as a beacon of modernist architecture partly inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania has become so dilapidated that it may have to be demolished, critics have said.

Bernat Klein, a Serbian-born textile designer who moved to the Borders in the 1950s, commissioned the architect Peter Womersley to create a cantilevered, concrete and glass structure as a studio. However, after a flood in 2011 when renovation work was almost finished, the unoccupied 1970s building near Selkirk was damaged by water.

Critics now claim that the A-listed studio has not been repaired sufficiently by its owner, Lee Miller, and could be reaching the end of its lifespan.

Susan Hallsworth, the former managing director of Urban Union, a regeneration housing scheme, said that unless radical repair work began soon, the structure would fail.

She told The Times: “It is the most frustrating thing, watching this being allowed to happen … if you left it as it is, in ten years you could have to demolish it. The metal, steelwork and concrete have decayed so much that the amount of money to repair it may not be worth it. It will need hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

• Allanwater Homes unveils new brand image

Allanwater Homes has launched a new brand image as it embarks on a “rapid” expansion programme.

Digital design agency Flintriver has worked with Allanwater Homes for the past three years, creating and developing the family run housebuilder’s brand image, and applying it to its point of sale material, signage, and development brochures.

It has also taken on the very important job of designing the interior and exterior of Allanwater Homes marketing suites.

Having just launched a new phase at Oaktree Gardens, Alloa, together with new developments in Alva, and at Rumblingwell, Dunfermline, Allanwater Homes is growing and expanding fast. It broke into the West Lothian marketplace for the first time with its Heartlands development, launched in 2018, and has its sights firmly set on other new areas of Scotland.

New developments are coming soon to Kirkcaldy and Cambusbarron.

• David Wilson Homes takes nursery children on a ‘Bear Hunt’

Pre-schoolers from Happy Feet Nursey enjoyed a special treat this week when they visited David Wilson Homes’ Lauder Gardens development to go on a ‘Bear Hunt’.

The event saw Buddy the Bear reading the renowned children’s book written by Michael Rosen ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ children aged between 3-4 years in celebration of today’s World Book Day.

Also known as International Day of the Book, World Book Day is organised by UNESCO to promote reading and publishing, and is embraced by schools across Scotland in a bid to raise literacy levels amongst children.

After the book recital, all of the children embarked on a bear hunt adventure throughout the show home and then sat down to a special teddy bear picnic, enjoyed a series of games and were presented with a special goody bag to take away with them.