Scotland round-up: Countdown begins for Highlands spaceport; Aberdeen shopping centre extension is approved

A round-up of planning news in Scotland: 14 July-20 July, 2018
Countdown begins for Highlands spaceport
A remote peninsula in Sutherland has been chosen as the location for the UK’s first spaceport.
The Planner
‘Radical’ overhaul of construction sector is required, say Lords
The House of Lords has reported that the construction sector cannot meet the UK’s housing needs and ‘may struggle’ to meet its infrastructure needs.
The Planner
UK is failing to plan for elderly population, suggests report
Research by planning consultancy Lichfields has indicated that the UK is failing to plan for its ageing population.
The Planner
Aberdeen shopping centre extension is approved
Property giant Hammerson has been granted planning permission in principle for a major extension of the company’s Union Square shopping centre in Aberdeen, which would include space for 30 new shops, a 120-bedroom hotel and a bigger cinema but less additional car parking than originally proposed.
Scottish Construction Now
Glasgow exhibition and conference centre proposals
The Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow has applied for planning permission in principle to add a new conference facility and extend existing exhibition space at the complex in a move likely to cost £150 million. This requires funding approval from the city council and both the Scottish and UK governments.
Scottish Construction Now
Borders town centre change-of-use pilot
Scottish Borders Council has agreed a pilot lasting a year that will see key changes to the regulations governing change of use of commercial properties in town centres. The core activity areas are Duns, Eyemouth, Galashiels, Hawick, Kelso, Montrose, Peebles and Selkirk.
Scottish Borders Council
MSPs bang the drum for biodiversity
A Holyrood Committee has proposed ways to improve biodiversity activity and reporting after discovering that more than half of Scotland’s public bodies failed to report on their biodiversity efforts.
Scottish Parliament
Glasgow student accommodation deal
Maslow Capital has completed a deal which will see it developing a 10,300 square metre student accommodation block in Glasgow.
Scottish Construction Now
Successful Fife housing appeal
Taylor Wimpey is set to deliver 295 homes, a quarter of which will be affordable, on farmland at Inverkeithing following a successful appeal after the scheme was refused by Fife Council.
UK Construction Online
South of Scotland projects scoop £7.7m funding
Four key enterprise projects across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders, designed to reinvigorate the area’s economy and stimulate inclusive growth, have been awarded government funding worth £7.7 million.
Scottish Government
Moray business park climbs off drawing board
Work has begun on the 50-hectare Elgin Business Park in Moray, which it is hoped will eventually bring 4,000 jobs to the area.
BBC News
Extending Scotland’s network of paths and trails, providing additional sports opportunities in deprived areas and supporting efforts to ensure that children can play outside safely are all key elements in the government’s drive to help people in Scotland become more active.
Scottish Government
Red phone box saved in Tomitoul
People-power in Tomitoul has saved one of Scotland’s last remaining red phone boxes from being uprooted.
The Scotsman
Go-ahead for Lanarkshire homes
North Lanarkshire Council has given housebuilder Springfield Partnerships planning consent for 100 affordable homes in Harthill.
Scottish Construction Now
Merchant Homes has submitted a planning application to Glasgow City Council for 132 homes as part of a new residential community for Glasgow East.
Scottish Construction Now
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