Building Briefs – October 2nd

ISG’s construction managing director Alan McCarthy-Wyper has left the firm after just 18 months.

McCarthy-Wyper was brought in from Balfour Beatty Rail by ISG chief executive David Lawther in May 2013 tasked with streamlining the struggling UK construction division.

Phil Brown, the ISG construction group risk director, has taken over in the interim.

£65m housing deal for Sigma as it regenerates itself into a developer

Urban regeneration specialist Sigma Capital has been granted an option to build a £65 million housing development in an affluent suburb of Liverpool.

The Edinburgh-based firm announced it has signed the deal as it published half-year numbers showing it has finished exiting its old venture capital activities.

Sigma is repositioning itself as a developer and in April raised £8m through a share placing aimed at reassuring key customers such as the UK government and housebuilders that it has the firepower to take on large developments.

Numbers for the first six months of 2014 show it reduced its pre-tax losses by half, from £400,000 to £200,000, and broke even in terms of property related activities.

River Clyde Homes and Carillion to tackle fuel poverty in Inverclyde

River Clyde Homes has announced a new partnership with Carillion to deliver mains natural gas to over 80 Port Glasgow households. The works will bring natural gas to the Park Farm area for the very first time.

The new gas network will allow the housing association to then replace the outdated electric storage heaters in these homes to new, highly efficient gas fired combi-boilers and radiators. This will help customers to reduce their fuel bills while creating greener, more affordable and comfortable homes in Park Farm.

The initial pilot project, reaching 83 homes, is now underway. Following the successful completion of the project, it is hoped the network will be expanded across all 2200 River Clyde Homes’ properties with electric heating.

Council offers loans to aid house sales in West Dunbartonshire

Owners of empty homes in West Dunbartonshire can apply for loans so that they can carry out refurbishments before putting the property up for sale.

West Dunbartonshire Council said the “loan-to-sell” scheme could bring empty properties back into use after the Government relaxed rules to make it easier to bring them up them to a habitable standard.

The Empty Homes Loan Fund initially provided loans of up to £15,000 to homeowners who needed financial help to bring their empty homes back up to a lettable standard. The condition of the loan specified that the properties then had to be then leased out as affordable housing for a minimum of 5 years.

As the scheme did not prove as popular as expected, conditions have now been relaxed to allow councils to offer a “loan to sell” option to owners, where loans would be given in order to bring the property up to a habitable standard to make them more attractive to buyers. On conclusion of a sale, the loan would be repaid to the council immediately.

Slipway savings aid Stranraer regeneration

Nearly half a million pounds is being earmarked for investment in regeneration projects in Stranraer.

Dumfries and Galloway Council said the cash has come from savings made on a scheme to provide a slipway as part of the local waterfront redevelopment programme.

Economy and environment committee chairman Colin Smyth said they had been able to come up with a more cost-effective solution.

That, in turn, has allowed funds to be freed up to support other key schemes.

Once the exact scale of the savings is known, a report on options of how to allocate them will go to the Wigtown area committee.

Group receives cash boost to regenerate town centres

The Scottish Government is to fund a group aiming to revive Scotland’s town centres, Local Government and Planning Minister Derek Mackay has announced.

The Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) has been awarded a £186,000 two-year development grant to strengthen its role as the ‘go-to’ body for information, advice and sharing of expertise around town centre development.

STP’s estimate their reach is now into almost 200 cities, towns and villages across Scotland and covers settlements with a total population of 3.8 million people.

Architect fined over malpractice

A Dundee architect has been fined £5,000 after being found guilty of “unacceptable” professional conduct and “serious” professional incompetence.

Ged Young, of Aim Design, narrowly avoided being suspended after he caused a female client to incur “substantial cost” during a year-long project to design and build her new home. No house was ever built. He was also found to have failed to deal with a conflict of interest which arose as he was a director and part-owner of Dwell Sustainable Homes Ltd, and he tried to convince the woman to build a ‘dwell house’ rather than an ‘eco house’.

During a hearing at the Architects Registration Board, Young was found guilty of all the allegations placed before the panel and following a personal plea in mitigation by Mr Young the committee imposed a financial penalty rather than a suspension.

International conference aims to improve energy efficiency of Scotland’s traditional buildings

Some of the world’s top academics in the field of energy efficiency met in Glasgow this week to discuss this problem and many others relating to sustainability in the historic environment. One of the focuses of the conference was on a case study by Glasgow Caledonian University on the Canongate Housing complex on Edinburgh’s iconic Royal Mile.

Constructed during the 1960s, the three blocks were designed by the renowned Scottish architect Robert Mathews. They are Category B listed and lie within Edinburgh’s Old Town Conservation area and World Heritage Site, which presents challenges to the conventional means of improving energy efficiency in old buildings, usually by ‘responsible retrofit’.

The two day conference was held on 30th September and 1stOctober as part of Historic Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Week.

The results of the case study are due to be published in November.

‘Heartening’ property stats for first three quarters of 2014

Perthshire property bosses have described property sales for the first three quarters of the year as ‘heartening’.

Latest statistics from Perthshire Solicitors Property Centre show that 712 properties have been sold by PSPC’s member firms during the first nine months of the year, achieving a total of over £118M, ahead of the same period last year.

The average price achieved was £166,162.

A77 Smyrton improvement project

Users of the A77 Smyrton are set to benefit from essential road improvements which are set to get underway from Monday 6 October.

The project will see the replacement of 600 road studs and the replacement of double white lines on the A77 at Smyrton.

Construction Products Association chief to chair new Infrastructure Supply Chain Capacity and Skills group

The UK Government Commercial Secretary to the Treasury has announced that Dr Diana Montgomery, chief executive of the Construction Products Association, has been appointed to chair a new infrastructure Supply Chain Capacity and Skills group.

The group, which includes representatives from government departments, supply chain organisations and skills bodies, will provide expert guidance and work with government to recommend interventions that build capability and capacity and help mitigate inflationary pressures in the UK infrastructure sector.

Construction work for Borders school

Construction work is set to begin at Westruther Primary School, the Scottish Borders Council has confirmed.

The £370,000 project will see the school extended to include a new classroom, entrance and toilet accommodation, better teaching and dining facilities for nursery and primary pupils as well as better opportunities for outdoor teaching and learning.

Murray & Burrell has been appointed the contractor for the scheme, while the council’s in-house Architects Section was responsible for the design.

Construction is due to begin on the week commencing Monday 13 October and be completed by April 2015.

Road Reopens Following Flood Damage

The Strathavon Road in Moray has reopened following flood damage earlier this year.

The road, near Strathavon Lodge on the B9136 Avonside Road, was left in a dangerous condition in August after the River Avon flooded and undercut the bank and tarmac its banks and swept the road away.

Moray Council closed the road and motorists faced a lengthy diversion until repairs were carried out.

Limehillock Quarries (R&C Murray) was appointed to carry out the repairs and started on site within two days of the damage being caused.

The project included creating a channel in the river to keep the water away from the section that had washed away. This was washed away for a second time in August following a period of heavy sustained rain. The contractor then made the decision to place large boulders to protect the bank and filled in the space behind them with rock to build it up to the level of the road.

Consultation for new Carnoustie sports ground

A consultation is underway regarding a new sports facility proposed for Carnoustie.

The Angus Local Plan Review (2009) has outlined 2.25 hectares of land for a new sports ground and associated facilities to be constructed north of Shanwell Road and west of Balmachie Road. It would be adjacent to Carnoustie High School, Angus Council has said.

The local authority is currently holding a consultation with the community of Carnoustie in relation to the plans. The plans would see two 100x60m football pitches created; or, alternatively, one of the pitches could be replaced with a 120x70m pitch, which is the minimum requirement for a rugby union pitch.

A new access road and car parking, two changing room containers and an underground sustainable urban drainage (SUDS) facility, to allow for the draining of the pitches and car park, are also included in the proposal.

Further development for Gretna Gateway

Construction work is due to commence at the Gretna Gateway shopping village, it has been announced.

The expansion, which is the third phase of development at the site, will also help to create an additional 50 jobs.

Work on the newest development will commence next month, with an anticipated opening date of summer 2015.

Funding boost to upgrade South Lanarkshire tennis courts

Work gets underway next week on a £139,000 project to upgrade the Strathaven Park tennis courts.

The newly upgraded courts will replace the ageing blaes courts and, thanks to the installation of floodlights, will provide the opportunity for players of all ages and standards to play all year round.

The project, which is set to begin on 6 October and is expected to be completed within six weeks, is being carried out by South Lanarkshrie Council in partnership with Strathaven Tennis Club which has been successful in securing grant funding.