Building Briefs – September 20th

Scottish Borders Council has successfully secured almost £635,000 National Lottery funding to support the redevelopment of the existing Jim Clark Room.

At the same time, The Jim Clark Trust confirmed it had reached its fundraising target of £300,000 thanks to the support of thousands of public donations.

The £1.6 million project, which is being delivered with over £600,000 of council funding and the £300,000 raised by the charitable Trust, will see the existing small exhibition space in Duns redeveloped to create a modern museum to celebrate the life and achievements of Jim Clark, a double Formula One world champion.

The new museum will provide expanded exhibition space showcasing memorabilia and the trophy collection, two of Jim Clark’s race cars, new image galleries, film footage, interactive displays, technology and an education zone. It will continue to be operated by Live Borders.

Over the past five years the project has received widespread support on a regional and national level and from the international motor sport community. Supporters of the project include motor sport luminaries such as Dario Franchitti, Allan McNish, David Coulthard, Clive Chapman and Lord March, all Patrons of The Jim Clark Trust.

Shepherd named as supplier on Crown Commercial Service Estates Professional Services Framework in Scotland

Shepherd Chartered Surveyors has been named as a supplier on the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Estates Professional Services (EPS) Framework in Scotland.

The Framework will allow key stakeholders, such as Central Government Departments, Local Government Departments, Health, Education and Emergency Service Organisations, to place orders with Shepherd Chartered Surveyors for commercial property services throughout Scotland.

These services encompass professional advice, guidance, negotiation and assistance on property and estates issues including, but not limited to, commercial agency disposals and acquisitions, rent reviews/lease renewals, valuations, dilapidations and advisory services on estate and property related matters in general.

The EPS Framework will allow public sector customers quick access to services without the need to go through a full OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) process, in turn saving time and money.

CCS supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. The framework is expected to save the public sector £35m over the next four years.

Furthermore, Government and public sector customers will be able to reduce their property costs, release unwanted property assets, identify savings and establish opportunities to generate income from land and buildings.

Shepherd has been named a supplier to CCS following a comprehensive and competitive tendering process. The Framework runs until 21 August 2021.

Link completes new development for social rent in East Kilbride

Link Group Ltd’s development at Stanley Place, off Livingstone Drive, East Kilbride has been officially opened by South Lanarkshire Council’s convener for housing, Councillor Josh Wilson.

The £2.5 million construction of 19 homes for social rent began in April 2016, using £1.386m of funding from the Scottish Government.

Built by McTaggart Construction, Livingstone Drive comprises a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes, and two wheelchair exemplar units.

Link Group initially planned to build 20 homes at the development, but South Lanarkshire Council indentified a family whose home was severely overcrowded and who also required an adapted property.

To accommodate the needs of the family, two of the cottage flats were changed to a five-bedroom wheelchair exemplar unit.

McTaggart Construction worked extremely hard to achieve the handover date for the property, which was well ahead of the overall schedule.

The properties have been built to the Silver Standard of Sustainability, with high levels of insulation and solar panels, creating warm, comfortable, energy-efficient homes that are easy and economical to run.

(Full story… )

New homes on the way for Aviemore

A total of 44 new homes for Aviemore have been given the go-ahead by planners with 15 of those being affordable properties.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) planning committee approved two separate applications at its latest meeting last week.

Cairngorm Properties Ltd now has permission to build 30 flats and eight terraced homes on a site to the north west of Aviemore while Albyn Housing Society Limited has been given the go ahead to build six affordable homes at Dellmhor, beside the Ski Road at Inverdruie.

Both applications were recommended for approval by CNPA planning officers, subject to conditions and agreement of planning obligations.

(Full story… )

Plans progress to regenerate Paisley’s West End

Plans to transform the West End of Paisley have taken a further step forward after councillors approved detailed development of the proposals yesterday.

Residents and business owners have already shown their support for the draft Paisley West End Regeneration Masterplan which outlines proposals to convert vacant land and low demand property into new housing.

Now members of the council’s Leadership Board have backed the plans and called for a finalised, fully costed masterplan to be brought back to the next board in December 2017.

The masterplan proposes to develop around 150 private and social homes and potentially provide new commercial units on land around Paisley’s Well Street through demolition of low demand tenement flats and commercial ground floor properties on the east side of Well Street and vacant residential blocks on Clavering Street East.

Land formerly home to University of the West of Scotland Halls of Residence would also be cleared and local community growing areas relocated within the West End under the masterplan proposals.

Councillors noted the positive findings of the consultation conducted so far, with residents and business owners backing the plans and commenting on the benefits of the area’s central location, good public transport links and the close-knit community.

The consultation also highlighted the challenges facing the area, with high levels of vacant properties in a poor condition and issues such as vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

Union Terrace Gardens to shut temporarily for site investigation work

Union Terrace Gardens (UTG) in Aberdeen is to close from September 25, 2017, for approximately five weeks to assess ground conditions as part of plans to rejuvenate the Victorian park.

The redevelopment of UTG – aimed at improving access and amenity – is one of 50 City Centre Masterplan projects designed to transform Aberdeen over a 25-year period.

The proposals, drawn up by LDA Design for Aberdeen City Council, include walkways, new buildings and tree planting. Outline plans were approved by the council in March and a detailed planning application is currently awaiting determination.

The site investigation will involve digging trial pits and exploratory bore holes to help:

The investigation works were approved by the council earlier this year and the project team has liaised closely with the local authority’s events and maintenance teams to minimise the impact on operations.

Officers had recommended carrying out a site investigation before appointing a construction contractor to provide greater certainty for the council about the project’s detailed cost and timescale.

Hundreds of property professionals tackle Buccleuch Property Challenge

More than 200 property professionals from across the UK completed the annual Buccleuch Property Challenge raising £14,000 for cancer charities Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and Ovarian Cancer Action.

Over 70 teams travelled to the Duke of Buccleuch’s Drumlanrig Castle and Queensberry Estate to participate in the outdoor adventure race, which celebrated its 11th year.

Competitors – who enter in teams of three – endured a marathon test of mental and physical challenges, including a mountain bike agility course, river rapids swim, orienteering and military style assault course.

The winning single category team, who completed the race in 4 hours and 3 minutes, were Michael O’Driscoll, Nick Atkinson, Adam Heather from Northumberland Estates. In the mixed team category, Sarah Exton, Ed Morris and Barry Patterson from Buccleuch’s Eskdale & Liddlesdale Estate were first over the finish line, with a time of 4 hours 34 minutes.

For this year’s event, Buccleuch Property selected Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and Ovarian Cancer Action as its charity partners, and has successfully raised £14,000 to help support cancer research, treatment and services for cancer patients and their families.