Balfour Beatty has been forced to push-back the completion date of its £16m contract to repair the UK’s highest railway.

The Scottish Government’s Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) agency has confirmed the Cairngorm furnicular will not reopen until the “second half of 2022.”

The railway at the ski resort was due to reopen early next year following strengthening work on the 1.9km viaduct that supports the track.

Balfour began work in April 2021 but delays have arisen due to “technical challenges associated with designing and implementing effective solutions to an existing structure, as opposed to a new build.”

Work has also been hampered by the impact of Covid and extreme weather including blizzard conditions in the spring.

HI added that “extra effort has also been required to source vital construction materials that are currently in short supply across the UK.”

HIE interim chief executive Carroll Buxton said: “We’ve always been upfront in describing the reinstatement programme as one of the most complex and difficult civil engineering projects in Scotland.

“As well as managing technical challenges, the team has to take great care to protect the mountain environment, and deal with difficult terrain and extreme weather conditions that can quickly become hazardous.

“The original schedule was very ambitious, even without the impacts of the pandemic lasting as long as they have and before the more recent problems in sourcing construction materials of suitable quality.

“With limited time available to complete these works before winter, postponement has become inevitable.”

The funicular was built by Morrison Construction and opened in 2001 but was taken out of service in 2018 after an engineers’ inspection identified structural defects that raised safety concerns.

Buxton said: “We’re now working with our designers and contractors on a revised schedule for the remainder of the project.

“Harsh mountain conditions mean that all work will need to halt over winter and resume next spring. To ensure safety, there also needs to be a period of testing and certification at the end of the programme, so our current expectation is that the funicular can be relaunched in autumn 2022.

“Clearly, a longer timescale will also have a financial impact. We’ll be reviewing costs very carefully and will publicly confirm a revised budget as soon as it’s possible to do so.”

HIE has also approved up to £780,000 for an extensive refurbishment of the Ptarmigan building that sits on the plateau and includes the UK’s highest restaurant, a shop, exhibition space and viewing platforms.

Following competitive tender, resort operator Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd (CMSL) has awarded a contract for the first phase of the Ptarmigan works to Simpson Builders Ltd, based in Beauly. The refurbishment is due to start at the end of August and be completed by the end of 2021.

 

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The London Mayor has secured £3.46bn to deliver 29,456 homes with councils and housing associations from the first round of bidding for the next five-year affordable homes programme.

These fresh grants cement the council housing comeback in London, with more than four in 10 of the homes being built by councils, totalling 12,024 homes.

More than half of the social rented homes will be built by councils, and 57% of all homes will be for social rent.

A further £5.2bn was announced by the Government today for affordable homes to be delivered outside London by Homes England, but details have yet to be released.

The Mayor’s new 2021-26 programme – running alongside the extended 2016-23 programme – will see 79,000 new homes started over the next five years.

Affordable homes programme 2021-26 allocationsOrganisationTotal

HomesSocial Rent

HomesAHP

FundingHavering395161£35.2 mEstuary Housing Association3016£1.3 mRichmond Housing Partnership13180£13.9 mCity of Westminster Council230106£24.1 mParagon Asra Housing1,455930£181.7 mHammersmith and Fulham394186£32.3 mPoplar HARCA227145£21.2 mA2Dominion Homes500300£56.0 mBarnet217105£23.5 mPlaces for   People Homes4444£4.0 mEaling1,032561£109.6 mHarrow –   Housing411219£44.4 mThe Guinness Partnership300150£32.7 mTBG Open Door Homes4810£3.8 mNewlon Housing Trust12080£15.8 mBromley535535£38.0 mOptivo1,500825£180.8 mWandsworth289138£23.4 mHyde Housing Association1,476590£163.8 mLewisham456285£70.0 mCroydon Churches Housing Association12050£12.5 mKingston upon Thames105105£13.1 mCity of London200150£16.5 mSouthern Housing Group300100£33.5 mLondon Legacy Development Corporation825149£67.7 mBrent701701£111.7 mCamden569569£86.6 mOne Housing Group386252£41.7 mHexagon Housing Association18090£24.9 mRiverside Housing Association15190£18.8 mPhoenix Community HA7348£10.0 mLambeth311212£28.2 mHounslow540540£93.2 mGreenwich230230£38.1 mLondon & Quadrant539154£55.1 mCromwood Housing7575£11.3 mNewham550500£91.7 mSutton6554£10.1 mWaltham Forest7777£15.4 mHackney100100£17.5 mHaringey647647£127.5 mBarking and Dagenham1,757573£171.0 mEnfield1,119824£166.6 mTower Hamlets194194£32.0 mMetropolitan Housing Trust1,035538£128.8 mCatalyst Housing1,000535£118.9 mNetwork Homes1,000500£122.5 mNotting Hill Genesis1,265577£126.8 mOctavia Housing450225£55.1 mReSI Homes1,250£56.3 mClarion Housing Group2,0001,250£240.0 mSouthwark852664£126.5 mPeabody Trust1,000500£120.0 mTotal29,45616,739£3.46bn

In total, almost six in ten of the homes (16,739 homes) funded by the first round of this affordable homes programme will be made available at the cheapest social rent.

The remainder will be for shared ownership and London Living Rent which can help Londoners on average incomes move into homeownership.

The Mayor has set ambitious targets for London to be a zero-carbon city by 2030 and expects homes built with funding announced today to be environmentally sustainable.

New standards introduced in the Mayor’s New London Plan include requirements for all developments of ten or more homes to be net zero-carbon and to incorporate sustainable urban green spaces.

Housing providers building homes funded by the new AHP will also have to meet new conditions on building safety and design.

HP funding project conditions

1. The installation of sprinklers or other fire suppression systems in new blocks of flats

2. A ban on combustible materials being used in external walls for all residential development, regardless of height

3. Minimum floor-to-ceiling heights and a requirement for private outdoor space

4. A ‘sunlight clause’ requiring all homes with three or more bedrooms to be dual aspect, any single aspect one- or two-bedroom homes to not be north-facing and at least one room to have direct sunlight for at least part of the day

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I am delighted that we have been able to come to a deal with the Government to get started on nearly 30,000 genuinely affordable homes.

“Today’s funding is good news but I know we can still go further, faster, working with ministers, housing associations and councils to deliver more of the homes Londoners so desperately need.”