Building Briefs - September 2nd

• Council makes funding contribution to Dundee transport museum development

Dundee City Council’s financial contribution would allow the Museum of Transport to carry out a series of requirements towards the total project costs, including commissioning reports required for planning approval, detailed costing and appraisal works, further consultation with local people & groups and conservation architect fees.

Councillor Steven Rome, city development depute convener, said: “The Museum’s plans are very encouraging. The move to Maryfield Tram Depot from the current premises will allow for a greater number of visitors as well as creating new jobs.

“The planned relocation will also save and incorporate the historic B-listed Tram Depot building which is a unique piece of Dundee’s transport heritage as the new headquarters for the visitor attraction.”

The Dundee Museum of Transport funding request will be discussed by the council’s city development committee September 6.

• Council approves funding for Glasgow City Heritage Trust

Funding of up to £240,000 for the Glasgow City Heritage Trust (GCHT) was approved by Glasgow City Council today.

The funding - for the 2021/22 financial year - will support the work of the Trust in repairing and restoring historic buildings, bringing such buildings back into use, and repairing buildings at risk.

The GCHT was established in 2007, and since then it has repaired 563 historic buildings, brought back 71 vacant historic buildings into use, repaired 26 buildings at risk, supported 177 community and education projects, funded 53 traditional skills initiatives, and organised 86 lectures, events and exhibitions to highlight Glasgow’s built heritage.

An independent review - commissioned by Glasgow City Council - into funding for heritage organisations found that the provision of grant funding by the GCHT was the primary means by which residents and community groups could access financial assistance for investing in heritage assets in the city.

A particular focus of the Trust’s work is Glasgow’s stock of tenement homes.

The funding of up to £240,000 for the Trust from Glasgow City Council will enable £750,000 funding from Historic Environment Scotland, as the latter contribution is conditional on financial support from the council.

• APC success for Cushman & Wakefield’s Tara

Tara Morrow

Tara Morrow from Cushman & Wakefield’s Scottish team has passed her Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) exams after completing the company’s training scheme.

She is now a qualified chartered surveyor and member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Tara, who has a Master’s degree in Real Estate from the University of Glasgow and an MA (Hons) in Politics and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen, is currently working in the Asset Services team based in Glasgow.

• Plans approved to convert West Lothian pub

West Lothian Council has granted a proposal from developer F & M Cortellessa to convert The Crown Inn at Blackburn into a financial or professional shop, which can mean a bookmakers premises.

The owners at The Crown decided to shut after serving the community for many years.

• New phase of works underway at Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme

The preferred £42 million Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme was approved by East Lothian Council in January 2020.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, technical and environmental surveying work has progressed within the town over the past year.

With the completion of preparatory works, the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the development of a suite of new communication tools; the outline design of the scheme is ready to commence. This will be advanced by the project team through a consultative framework with statutory stakeholders, partner organisations, local stakeholders, community groups and the people of Musselburgh.

In the early summer, the Scheme recommenced meetings of its Working Groups. These groups bring together the project team with officers from multiple partner organisations who have a regulatory role to undertake. Thus far the Planning, Heritage & Landscape Working Group and the Roads, Structures & Access Working Group have met to review the approach to be taken to the Outline Design. In the coming months, the Watercourse Impact Working Group and Public Utility Working Group will also meet.

In parallel to the Working Groups the project team will run a number of local area consultation groups. To start with it is intended to have six groups for defined areas in the town. These areas have been identified as containing the properties/people who may be most directly affected by the proposed new flood defences. Each area will look at the existing infrastructure and local issues and thereby evolve the design in that area. 

Attendance at any given group is not limited to people from that area, however the wider town will be engaged in due course via Public Exhibitions.  It is currently planned that the next Public Exhibition will be held in the spring of 2022 in The Brunton.

The project team has started to hand-deliver a letter of invitation to each property in these areas which also aims to establish contact in person (in a socially-distant COVID-19 safe-way) with the residents of these properties.

• Highland Council issues rural housing supplementary guidance

The Highland Council’s economy and infrastructure committee has approved an updated Rural Housing Supplementary Guidance.

The guidance aims to support Highland’s recovery from the COVID pandemic, promote community-led housing and woodland crofts, and to strengthen rural communities and deliver on the Scottish Government re-population agenda.

The revised guidance sets a positive approach to rural housing across the whole of the council area, particularly in support and protection of rural businesses and farming.

This updated document replaces the Housing in the Countryside Supplementary Guidance adopted in 2013 and has been prepared in collaboration with a range of stakeholders.

The guidance has been aligned with the Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration made by the council in May 2019, by seeking to prevent biodiversity loss and deliver positive enhancements on site.

Trish Robertson, chair of the economy and infrastructure committee, welcomed the Member’s approval of the document, commenting we are delighted to be publishing updated guidance that continues to support our rural communities and their special character.

Work will now progress on the final adoption process with the Scottish Government and it is anticipated this will take approximately two months.

In the meantime, the new Supplementary Guidance will start to be used as a material consideration in the determination of rural housing planning applications. The guidance is being added to the council website.

As part of this work, the council has launched its Self-build Register, one of the first authorities to launch such an initiative. Homes built this way, offer a unique alternative to standard market housing, and offer the opportunity to create innovative, greener, and more affordable homes than currently offered through standard housing options.