Building Briefs – May 28th

• Naming vote opens as Jedburgh Campus remains on course for spring 2020 completion

Votes can be cast online until June 30 with the following choices available Jedburgh Community Campus, Jedburgh Grammar Campus, Jedburgh Joint Campus, Jedburgh Learning Campus and The Jedburgh Campus.

The project remains on course to open in spring 2020, with a behind the scenes video now available to show the progress made so far.

The main building for the campus is wind and water tight to allow the internal works to get into full swing. This includes an open plaza entrance with access to community facilities such as library, café and drop-in area.

The 2G and 3G sports pitches are almost completed, as is the rural skills area. These facilities, alongside a multi-use games area, 100m running track and external changing pavilion will all be available for community use.

Construction has also provided community benefits with local firms RJT Excavations and John Laidlaw & Son working on the campus.

Scottish Borders Council is taking forward the facility – which will replace the current Grammar School and Howdenburn and Parkside primaries – alongside development partner hub South East Scotland and appointed main contractor BAM Construction.

The funding for the new campus was confirmed by Deputy First Minister John Swinney in August 2017, as one of four projects to share £28 million from the latest phase of the Scottish Government’s £1.8 billion ‘Schools for the Future’ programme.

• Homes plan for former Aberdeen chapel approved

Plans to convert a former chapel into housing have been accepted by Aberdeen City Council.

Bancon Homes has been granted permission to convert Aspire Chapel on Union Grove to create four new flats.

According to a report submitted alongside the decision notice, it was deemed the “residential development could be satisfactorily accommodated within the site without negatively impacting on the character and appearance of the surrounding area”.

Three conditions have been imposed on the developers as a result of the decision, including the submission of extra drawings and tenants should not be allowed to occupy the property until car and cycle parking areas have been constructed.

The flats, which will form part of a wider development on the site, is hoped to “positively impact the local environment with a high quality of design and materials”.

• Dundee primary expansion proposed for community use

Mill o’ Mains Primary in Dundee could be home to new community facilities after local people voted overwhelmingly for the £1.5 million proposal in a consultation exercise.

Following a fire which destroyed the pavilion in the area, the neighbourhood services committee decided that an options appraisal should be carried out on the need for a new build community facility.

The exercise looked at all the options for a community facility in the area, taking into account the makeup of the population, what facilities already existed, how much it would cost to provide and run a facility, while also considering future plans for the area.

Ward councillors and council officers met to look at the long list of options and unanimously agreed that there were only three options which should be taken out to the whole community for consultation.

A consultation exercise then took place in April and the Mill o’ Mains Primary option receiving 71% of the vote.

Dundee City Council’s neighbourhood services committee is being recommended to back the primary school option and the spending of £1.5m, which would see community facilities included as an addition to planned upgrades to the building.

The extension would provide two activity rooms, a meeting pod, snack preparation area, toilets and a link between the gym hall and the community facility.  

Space would be available to deliver a full community programme which will be adaptable for family activities, youth work, children’s activities, fitness, community cooking, job shops, holiday programmes, community events and other services as identified by the community. 

The committee will hear that the plans are indicative and would be used as basis to start a discussion with the wider community about design and the operation of the facility.

The committee meets on Monday June 3.

• Jedburgh’s shops to turn into galleries for month-long event

As part of the ongoing Jedburgh Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme, shops in the town centre are playing host to artworks from various local artists during June.

The event also coincides with a free exhibition by Historic Environment Scotland exploring the history and architecture of Scotland’s traditional shopfronts, which will be hosted at 2 Canongate.

The Talking Shops exhibition is open from Sunday 2 June until Saturday 29 June. It is open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am to 4pm and 11am to 4pm on Sundays.

Jedburgh CARS is a heritage led regeneration project focused on Jedburgh town centre, offering grant aid towards repair works to traditional buildings, as well as supporting complementary initiatives to increase understanding of the town’s rich heritage and promotion of traditional skills.

The £1m project, funded by Historic Environment Scotland’s CARS programme and Scottish Borders Council, is also expected to generate private sector contributions, and will run until 2022.

• Mortgage approvals at highest level since February 2017

Mortgage approvals for house purchases rose markedly in April to be at the highest level since February 2017, new data from UK Finance has shown.

Loans for house purchases rose to 42,989 in April from 40,564 in March; this marked a clear upside breakout of the 38,000-40,000 range that had previously largely held since the beginning of 2018.

April’s marked rise in mortgage approvals suggests that housing market activity may well have got at least some temporary support from the avoidance of a disruptive Brexit at the end of March. It may very well also be that the housing market has benefited from recent improved consumer purchasing power and robust employment growth.

“The housing market has been constrained for an extended period by overall challenging conditions – relatively limited consumer purchasing power (despite recent improvement) after an extended squeeze and fragile consumer confidence.

The overall UK picture has also been dragged down by the particularly poor performance in London and parts of the South East, which has recently shown signs of spreading to other parts of the South.