From left to right:
New railway station (Edinburgh Park), Pescod Hall (Boston), World Champion cyclist, Chris Hoy

Community and the Environment

As one of the UK’s major developers, the Group is very aware of its responsibilities to the environment and to the many communities we serve.

At a strategic level, to ensure consistency, policy is set and monitored by the Group Executive, which comprises the executive directors of the main board, as well as the Construction and Personnel Directors. Thereafter, policy is embodied in our Group management procedures. Due to the unique operating environments of our three businesses, implementation is delegated to local level.

Housing

At any one time Housing is involved in the acquisition, pre-development and construction of over 100 individual projects throughout the UK. Our approach embraces both industry best practice and Government policy.

65% of completions in 2003 were from developments located on brownfield sites. This is in line with latest Government guidelines, and reflects both the increasing prevalence of change-of-use projects and continued focus on inner city regeneration schemes. Recognising our environmental responsibilities, we pursue a policy of treating contaminated sites in situ, thus avoiding off-site removal and minimising traffic impact.

We work closely with planners to ensure design strategies are compatible with local needs. This frequently involves the selection of special brick and timber products and architectural features which accord with the local landscape. We acknowledge the important role sustainability and recycling can play and take great care to ensure timber products in particular are from sustainable forests, that landscaping is imaginative, and to encourage recycling on-site.

Each of our regional businesses has an important role in its local community, regularly pursuing a variety of local and national charitable and fundraising initiatives. We also engage frequently with schools and offer site visits to ensure children are aware of the health and safety aspects on our sites.

Property

Our commercial property team is acknowledged throughout the industry as a leading urban developer. Over the years our skills have been widened to cover the growing number of mixed-use schemes transforming our cities. On each development we work closely with planners and local heritage bodies to enhance the environment by combining a good balance of traditional and contemporary build techniques and features.

We are working on an increasing number of major schemes across the country where environmental and community considerations represent a key consideration in the development brief.

Edinburgh Park is a first-class example of this. The park has a dedicated Communications Group which meets regularly to decide on ‘Community’initiatives – from car-sharing to on-site events and clubs. With its own management company, the park has a full-time Manager and Community/ Transport Coordinator. Edinburgh Park also operates an intranet system, ‘ep-online’, which ensures everyone on the park can access relevant information.

Good transport links are vital to our communities, encouraging flexible labour movement and reducing congestion. We are proud to have been a major contributor to the creation of the Edinburgh Park railway station which opened in December 2003. This services commuters from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Fife and will be of future benefit to the smooth operation of the business park. A free shuttle bus operates regular services to and from the new railway station.

Leisure facilities are also vital to the well-being of the park community – with the park’s crèche, fitness and bar/restaurant facilities enhancing greatly the quality of the working environment.

A joint venture with English Partnerships and the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Omega project extends to 558 acres of unserviced brownfield land, on a newly constructed junction on the M62. By virtue of its scale, prominence and accessible location between the major conurbations of Liverpool and Manchester it has been identified as being of regional, national and international importance. The vision is to create an employment-dominated mixed-use development as a centre of excellence for business and technology, providing an opportunity for quality, sustainable urban development.

Amenities will include landscaped zones and water features, playing fields, footpaths, trails, a comprehensive transport and pedestrian infrastructure and the creation of campus zones within five minutes walking distances. At the centre will be Omega Central offering a range of ancillary food, retail and hospitality outlets serving Omega’s business users and the immediate neighbouring community.

A Skills Cluster Group has been set up comprising local representative bodies along with the joint venture team. It has already begun to analyse the skills needs of firms likely to locate on Omega, assessed the current supply of such skills and identified skills/training gaps.

Construction Services

As an industry leading contractor which embraces a partnership culture, we have a pivotal role in the development process. We work closely with our clients and their design teams to ensure working practices and traffic flows minimise noise and congestion, and that materials are sourced after taking into account environmental considerations.

The highlight of the year from an environmental perspective was the relocation of a listed 15th century medieval hall in Boston from its existing site to a new location 70 feet away, to facilitate a new shopping centre for developer, Centros Miller. Pescod Hall weighs nearly 100 tonnes. The process required jacking the building up, hoisting it off its original foundations and rotating it through 180 degrees on trailers. This was a superb technical achievement and preserved a landmark building of national significance.

Sustainability was a vital component in the award of a £46m contract for a new headquarters building for The City of Edinburgh Council. Key performance indicators will be measured across all stages of the project covering design, construction, fit-out and occupation. Design considerations include achieving targeted thermal comfort standards, adequate cross-ventilation freshness and control, and ensuring that 80% of occupants can be seated within seven metres of an external wall or atrium. The construction team are developing a Sustainability Management System to monitor, measure and approve each of the 74 sustainability issues. Materials selection is a key issue with a requirement to use the most sustainable materials available and consider secondary, renewable, recyclable, sustainable and local sources.

Outlook

Looking forward we see a growing role for all of our businesses as instrumental in balancing the requirement of progress with a conscience for preserving our heritage, the environment and communities.