TWO Aberdeen City Council housing developments are back on track after high construction costs put them on hold.
A value engineering review identified project savings for the plans at Craighill and Kincorth, with the local authority now set to submit new planning applications and re-tender for the works.
Councillor Miranda Radley, convener of the housing, communities, and public protection committee at Aberdeen City Council, said, “We are carrying out a re-tendering exercise, with a new planning application for the sites at Craighill and Kincorth, given the positive outcome we saw with the lower price for Tillydrone School. The properties at Craighill and Kincorth will be energy efficient, low maintenance and built to an extremely high standard to ensure they are fit for the future using funding received from the Scottish Government.”
The report to committee said the preferred approach will be to progress both sites – which are both in the Kincorth area of Aberdeen – simultaneously but there is an acceptance that some project phasing may be required. It said that a ‘general slow-down’ is starting to be seen in terms of inflationary pressures in the construction market, with a reduction on confirmed orders starting on site for most contractors.
The council added that this current market trend means a more competitive tender strategy can be adopted than in previous years when the market was more buoyant and should result in a more economical tender return.
It added that construction works had been suspended at an ‘appropriate’ stage at both sites – after the enabling works were finished – to allow the value engineering review to be carried out.
Aberdeen City Council said that the appointed contractor was completing the enabling works when costs were being sought to complete the outstanding work packages. The prices offered for both sites were considered not to be value for money nor financially viable.
