Building Briefs – November 5th

• Miller Homes appoints Warren Thompson as new divisional managing director for North of England

Warren will commence his role in early 2020 and will join the Miller Homes executive board.

He will be responsible for the North East, Teesside, North West and Yorkshire regions, reporting to Stewart Lynes, COO of Miller Homes. Stewart previously held the role prior to his promotion earlier this month.

Warren will join Miller Homes from Redrow Homes, where he holds a similar role. Warren has more than 20 years of experience in the homebuilding industry, having held a number of senior positions at major housebuilders.

• Work begins on Clydebank community greenspace

The £1.3 million transformation of the former St Eunan’s Primary School site in Clydebank is underway.

Councillors visited the area this week as part of a sod cutting event to mark the beginning of its new life, with Councillor Iain McLaren cutting the first sod.

When completed, the site will be home to a state of the art Community Green Space, with new biodiversity areas, raised bed allotments, outdoor exercise equipment, play areas for children and outdoor education areas.

The project will also have open pathways to provide accessible connections for pedestrians and cyclists between the town centre to the south, and residential areas to the north of the site.

The Clydebank project was awarded £375,000 as part of a major new £37.5 million Scottish programme of projects to improve the urban environment of Scotland’s larger towns and cities. The Green Infrastructure Strategic Intervention, led by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), is part-funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

• Investment is key for recycling firm celebrating silver anniversary

A north east recycling and waste management firm is celebrating 25 years in business amid a period of significant investment and growth.

Formerly A. & M. Smith Skip Hire, A. & M. Smith Recycling Services has invested £6 million over the past seven years across its two sites in the north east.

The Aberdeen-headquarted company opened the doors of its second state-of-the-art recycling facility in Peterhead in 2012. Last year it developed new office space and double weighbridge facilities along with extended processing capabilities at its 39-acre site at Bankhead, Portlethen. Further significant investment has seen most of the company’s fleet of 16 trucks upgraded to new, low-emission vehicles within the last two years.

The firm, which employs 45 members of staff, offers commercial and industrial trade waste services, hazardous, electrical and electronic waste collection and sorting for recycling and registered PAS 100 Green Waste Composting, as well as a full range of skip hire services. It is also the largest processor of timber waste in the north east.

• Barratt funds Wallyford community project to choo-choon of £500

A Wallyford-led community project has received a cash injection of £500 to commission its steam train sculpture, that will sit pride of place on Salters Road in the East Lothian town.

Barratt Homes was delighted to get involved in the local project – which sits on the cusp of its St Clements Wells development in Wallyford – and has donated the £500 shortfall to help bring the project to fruition.

The donation will allow the community project team to commission the ironworks to begin. The steam train replica – that will be named the Wallyford PUG - will be erected at Salters Road, a notable location because this was where the original Wallyford Steam Locomotive train would pass over the level crossing when the coal mines and brickwork operations were still practised during the 1800s and early 1900s.  

• Tenants move into new Dingwall council homes

The Highland Council is welcoming tenants to their new homes after the recent completion of eight council houses in Dingwall.

The site at Larch Bridge Way is made up of two and three-bed homes including two bungalows and one of the family homes have a ground floor bedroom and bathroom making it suitable for wheelchair users.

The homes were designed by architects Bracewell Stirling and the site contractor was O’Brien Properties. HGA was the project engineer and KLM provided quantity surveying services. The Highland Housing Alliance acted as development agent and Helica provided the clerk of works service.

Funding for the project came from the Scottish Government and the Highland Council.

• £2.4m for West Lothian access improvements

West Lothian Council is investing £2.4 million to improve access to council facilities for people with disabilities

The council has approved a ten-year programme to audit and upgrade any operational buildings which do not meet the new updated ten-point criteria.

Over three quarters of the council’s operational properties already fully meet with criteria, with around 30 requiring further work in one or more area. These include 11 football pavilions, which will be assessed on a case by case basis for access requirements by users.

• Scottish Borders Council encourages community views on property proposal discussions

Community groups and members of the public in Earlston and Eyemouth are being encouraged to give Scottish Borders Council their views on initial proposals for council properties and services in both communities.

Following the Fit for 2024 property events in September in both communities, surveys have been launched to gather the views of those who were not able to attend. The information provided at the events can be accessed via the Scottish Borders Council website as well as the surveys

Investment proposals for a new Eyemouth Community Campus on the site of the existing Eyemouth Primary School with educational facilities, local services and extra care housing were presented at an event on 26 September.

This event was also the start of discussions around what opportunities the new facility will provide and how the campus can be utilised for activities currently hosted in a number of other buildings and sites in the town, including the library, community centre and other education provision in east Berwickshire.

The feedback from the 26 September drop-in session will also be used to influence the next stage of the design process for the new campus.

A similar event in Earlston was held on 19 September, with the public asked to consider initial proposals for a new primary school with community facilities and adjacent affordable housing.

A Fit for 2024 event looking at properties in Jedburgh was also held in June this year. Feedback from local people at the event is already being used to inform both the arrangements around the community use of the new Campus in the town and a feasibility study into the future use of the existing Grammar School site and the Town Hall.

Further engagement will take place early in the new year to consider options arising from the feasibility study.

A similar property drop-in session will take place in Galashiels in early 2020, which will also look at the various regeneration projects being taken forward with local community and business groups.