A funding decision which could set the wrecking ball rolling on “ghetto” Forfar flats is expected within weeks.
Mr McKeown said: “The houses are constructed on gap sites resulting from the previous demolition of sub-standard council housing. Angus Council has developed a model design which is being replicated, in part or in whole, at other locations within Angus as the planned programme of developments is taken forward.
“An integral aspect of this design is the adoption of the latest best practice regarding the provision of affordable housing. This includes the utilisation of sustainable materials and techniques which protect and enhance the built and surrounding environment and delivers high performance standards for new buildings in terms of flexibility, adaptability, low carbon emissions, standards of comfort and low operating and maintenance costs.”
The council hopes to be able to issue tender documents for the Arbroath project in December for return by early February 2012.
“The contract is anticipated to start on site in early April 2012. The contract period is currently 60 weeks which, based on the programme dates above, would allow for a contract completion in June 2013,” added Mr McKeown.
“The funding of this project includes a significant contribution from Scottish government. If the current grant applications are not successful then this project may not be able to proceed and a further report would be brought forward detailing the implications for the project.”
Angus Council hopes to hear next month if it has been successful with a bid for government cash to create new social housing at Newmonthill. Elected members have been given an assurance that the bulldozers are ready to move in as soon as any funding green light is given.
The Newmonthill blocks have lain boarded up for years after the council decided to empty the hard-to-let flats which had gained a reputation as a hotbed for anti-social behaviour and drug abuse.
Plans to demolish the flats were stalled by the high cost involved but a proposal to knock them down and use the rubble as the foundations for 20 new townhouses has helped breathe life into the scheme.
The local authority is now awaiting a Scottish Government decision on whether the Forfar bid has been successful and Angus head of housing Alan McKeown has assured councillors that the Newmonthill project is ready to go.
“We have put in a very strong bid and hope to get some news in September,” he said. “If we are successful with the grant application it (Newmonthill) is our top priority and we will be able to hit the ground running with a wrecking ball to demolish the flats and use the foundations in the innovative fashion we plan.”
Mr McKeown’s update came as Angus neighbourhood services councillors gave their authority to progress with a £2.5 million-plus procurement proposal for more than 20 affordable homes on two sites at Noran Avenue in Arbroath, another strand of the Angus bid.
There will be 11 homes on one part of the site, which will be owned and managed as an addition to the council’s housing stock. A further 12 houses will be offered for sale to first-time buyers on a shared equity basis.
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