Building Briefs – September 30th
Reading time: 7 minutes
Community owned wind turbine gets green light from Clydesdale Bank
Construction of a new wind turbine which will be entirely owned by the local community of Huntly, is now underway after receiving a £2 million support package from Clydesdale Bank.
The Greenmyres Community Wind Project will see a 500kW Enercon wind turbine erected on Greenmyres Farm – a 63 acre area, south of Huntly.
The project is being managed by the Huntly and District Development Trust (HDDT), a charity which aims to improve the social and economic life of the Huntly area.
It is hoped the new turbine will bring in significant funding for social investment to the community over the next 20 years, which the HDDT will reinvest in socially useful projects such as improving transport links, revitalising the town centre and supporting local charities.
The £2,000,000 project finance package was arranged by the Renewable Energy Team at Clydesdale Bank and makes up 80 per cent of a total of £2,500,000 combined support delivered by the Bank, Social Investment Scotland and the Scottish Government’s CARES scheme.
As part of the project, people in Huntly and beyond will also have the opportunity to purchase shares in the project. Shares will be made available in the spring of 2017.
Midlothian Council agrees more money for care home maintenance work
Councillors have agreed to spend a further £138,065 for unforeseen essential maintenance work at a former care home, currently being turned into a House of Multiple Occupancy for homeless people.
The money will be used for specialist contractors to remove polystyrene, which was hidden below insulated asbestos panelling and is deemed a safety hazard in the event of a fire, at Pentland House in Penicuik.
Around £300,000 has already been committed for the project.
The Artex ceilings will be removed along with the timber framework and polystyrene. Council staff would then install new fire retardant insulation and replasterboard.
The property, which is due to open in spring 2017, will have 40 bedrooms, four of which will be double bedrooms.
Perth hotel demolition could cost £3.6m
The cost of demolishing a dilapidated former Perth hotel could be as much as £3.6 million, it’s been revealed.
Several projected costs have been submitted by Dundee chartered surveyors KLM Partnership regarding businesswoman Ann Gloag’s plans for the Waverley Hotel.
These estimates reveal that to demolish all buildings at the York Place/ Caledonian Road site and build a new sports hall in its place would cost between £2.4m and £3.6m. These options have not included necessary funding for the removal of asbestos, fees payable to Perth and Kinross Council, nor legal costs.
An alternative estimate submitted by KLM, which would see the front façade of the building retained, would cost around £2.7m.
The report was submitted by Fairhurst consulting engineers on behalf of the local authority.
Borders Tapestry site decision set for November
Councillors have agreed to wait until November to make a decision on the site for a Great Tapestry of Scotland visitor centre in Galashiels to enable further investigation into potential funding options.
A public discussion into reports and business cases for the Tweedbank site and the potential Galashiels site, which incorporates the former Poundstretcher building and the former Post Office building in Channel Street, was held yesterday.
At the end of the discussion the Elected Members unanimously agreed to receive a further report in November, when they will then be asked to decide to progress with development of the project in Galashiels, at Tweedbank, or not to proceed at all.
Work on Ironmills steps underway in Midlothian
Work to tackle the landslip at Ironmills steps in Dalkeith is underway.
Specialist contractors will be on site for the job, which is due to take eight weeks.
The steps will be monitored over the winter and, if safe, the plan is to reopen them to the public in the spring of next year.
New home registrations up 20 per cent for August
Almost 12,500 new homes were registered to be built in the UK in August according to the National House Building Council’s latest registration statistics, an increase of 20 per cent compared to the same month last year.
A total of 12,486 new homes (9,225 private sector; 3,261 public sector) were registered in August, compared to 10,391 (8,385 private sector; 2,006 public sector) 12 months ago.
Overall, there were 36,869 new home registrations in the rolling quarter (June 2016 – August 2016), compared to 40,123 in the same period last year, a decrease of 8 per cent.
However, during these months, which coincided with the industry caution experienced directly after June’s EU Referendum, several UK regions experienced a notable growth in registrations, compared to 2015, including the North East (+54 per cent), Yorkshire & Humberside (+31 per cent) and the South West (+23 per cent).
Housing plan for Milngavie revealed
A new housing development is planned that will provide retirement and affordable housing for older people in Milngavie.
Developer McCarthy & Stone proposes to build 49 retirement apartments, with access to a shared homeowners’ lounge and landscaped gardens, on land to the west of the fire station on Craigdhu Road.
The site forms part of a larger five acre site that has been identified as suitable for housing in the local development plan.
The development will be overseen by a house manager and security features, include a link to a 24 hour emergency call service.
A smaller block of 12 affordable housing apartments, for people over 55, is being proposed to be built on the same site by Sanctuary Housing.
The developers held a public exhibition of the plans yesterday and will assess the feedback before a final planning application is submitted.
AGM hears of future housebuilding plans at Atrium Homes
Atrium Homes held its 18th Annual General meeting this week, the first in its new community based Kilmarnock headquarters.
Members listened intently as chair Jim O’Neill introduced the Annual Report for 2015/16 and highlighted not only the successes of the past year but laid out Atrium’s plans for the future.
Particular mention was made of the launch of Atrium Property Services, the in-house repairs service; the very successful Money Advice Service; and Atrium’s IIP Gold Accreditation reflecting its position as a first class employer.
The Annual Accounts for the year, presented by Phillip Morrice of external auditors Alexander Sloan & Co, reflected Atrium’s ongoing strong financial position. Because of this position, the AGM heard that Atrium had plans to build up to 70 new properties, as well as converting a number of larger properties to provide accommodation for single people.
Mr O’Neil also outlined plans for new posts within the organisation aimed at delivering services and helping establish new activities that will deliver better life chances for people within Atrium’s communities.
Rents in Scottish PRS unchanged in 12 months, says ONS
The cost of renting privately in Scotland has remained unchanged over the last year, according to the latest release from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Figures unveiled yesterday revealed that private rents in Great Britain increased by 2.3 per cent in the 12 months to August with England seeing largest increase.
But despite the rise the cost of rent was down 0.1 per cent compared with the year to July 2016.
Rents in England saw the largest increase of 2.4 per cent while there was a minimal rise of 0.1 per cent in Wales and rents remained unchanged Scotland.
Rental growth in Scotland has gradually slowed to 0.0 per cent in the 12 months to August 2016 from a high of 2.1 per cent in the year to June 2015.
The cost of renting was up in all English regions with the South East seeing the biggest increase of 3.4 per cent. Rents in the East of England increased by 3.3 per cent while London saw a rise of 2.6 per cent.
The lowest annual rent price increase was in the North East at 0.9 per cent, followed by the North West at 1.1 per cent and The Humber at 1.3 per cent.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
