Vast earthworks job out to bid for £150m rail testing facility
The race has started to find an earthworks contractor to prepare the way to build a £150m major rail testing facility at a former opencast mine site in South Wales.
The Global Centre for Rail Excellence will be the world’s first integrated testing facility for both rail infrastructure and rolling stock.
The ambitious project will see the redevelopment of the 500-hectare Nant Helen opencast site on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons.
Advanced preparation work will require 3 million m³ of earth to be shifted before work on the permanent rail infrastructure can start.
The successful contractor will also provide temporary drainage during the construction phase as well as permanent drainage for the completed scheme.
The Global Centre for Rail Excellence will feature two looped test tracks, one being an electrified high speed rolling stock track (6.9km long) and the other being a low-speed infrastructure test track (4.5km).
There will also be a dual platform test environment, operations and control offices, staff accommodation, shunter cabins and facilities for research and development, education and training.
Following planning for the project this summer, the earthworks package will begin on site in spring 2022.
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Former nmcn telecoms director joins HE Simm
Engineering and services specialist HE Simm Group has appointed Peter Lambert as Group Commercial Director.
Lambert’s previous role was a short-term post at nmcn as Commercial Director of its Telecoms Division.
He brings 33 years’ of industry experience in the built environment sector having worked for companies including Spie Matthew Hall, Lendlease and Laing O’Rourke.
Lambert spent eight years working within the commercial team at NG Bailey, leaving as Regional Commercial Director to take up the post at nmcn in April before the firm went into administration earlier this month.
He joined Lee Marks who left NG Bailey at the same time to take over as the new chief executive of nmcn.
In his new role at HE Simm Group Lambert will lead and run the company’s commercial function in line with its overall strategic plan. As part of the Group Executive Leadership Team, he will report directly to CEO Gareth Simm.
Simm said: “We are very excited about Pete joining the team. He brings with him a wealth of experience, gained through working at some of the UK’s leading contracting firms.
“I am really looking forward to seeing what Pete can bring to our business, especially as we look ahead to a clear growth strategy over the coming years.
“Pete is one of two major appointments we’re making this month. Both individuals will add a lot of value to the Group, I have no doubt about that.”
Lambert added: “I am delighted to be joining HE Simm. The company has certainly become one to watch in the M&E field over the last few years. It has a great reputation and a lot of potential for further growth into new sectors and new regions in the UK.
“I am looking forward to sharing my experience with the team and to supporting them commercially with their ambitious strategic plans, as well as getting back into the M&E industry, which is where my passion lies.”
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Next phase of £650m Nottingham Island Quarter revised
Developer Conygar has submitted redrawn plans for phase 1B of Nottingham’s biggest regeneration scheme for decades, The Island Quarter scheme.
The proposals – which were initially submitted in January – include a 223-room hotel, 247 flats and an extensive food and beverage area in a 100m long forum.
As well as improving ventilation and access routes to the building, the changes build in extra flexibility during the construction process to face industry challenges, such as material shortages and labour availability.
Phase 1B will create up to 350 jobs during the construction phase
Tom Huffsmith, of Conygar, said: “Throughout the last year, we have worked closely with our design team to ensure that the plans for The Island Quarter have constantly been updated to meet the changing needs of a post-pandemic world.
“These alterations to 1B reflect those made to the overall masterplan for the site, which has been reimagined to include more green space, better routes for pedestrians and cyclists, and a focus on intergenerational living.
“1B is going to be a truly iconic building for the city, and we’re working closely with Nottingham City Council to ensure the plans will be approved and progress can continue to be made on this important site.”
David Jones, director at planning consultant AXIS, said: “While these changes will bring a positive impact to both the useability and buildability of 1B, the design intent is very much the same. The functions of the building itself remain as they were in the original planning submission – 1B will be a real flagship for The Island Quarter.
“The design changes are indicative of the impact of the pandemic, which is reflected more widely in Leonard Design and Studio Egret West’s emerging masterplan for the site as a whole.”
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London councils set out £98bn plan to retrofit 3.8m homes
All 33 of the London’s local authorities have signed up to a net zero carbon route map to retrofit 3.8m homes across all tenures in the capital to achieve an average EPC B rating by 2030.
The plan, which will be revealed in detail at the end of this month ahead of the Government spending review, could bring about a £98bn investment in the green economy in London, say councils.
The Retrofit London Housing Action Plan has been developed by the London Housing Directors’ Group with support from the London Environment Directors’ Network, the GLA, and Enfield and Waltham Forest as lead boroughs.
London boroughs are urging ministers to increase local government’s resources for this work.
They want the government to use the upcoming Spending Review to release £30m of funding for the next phase of the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission work.
Councils argue this is necessary to unlock over £200bn of private investment for delivering net zero across the UK’s 12 biggest cities.
The group also wants to see fresh financial incentives to encourage private retrofitting, such as green mortgages offering lower rates and a variable Stamp Duty Land Tax for more energy-efficient homes.
Key principles going forward
• Boroughs need to retrofit their own stock of 390,000 council homes and facilitate retrofit on the whole housing stock across London’s 3.8m homes.
• Planning decisions and guidance should support low-carbon retrofit activity, particularly in finding innovative ways to address the retrofit challenge in conservation areas.
• London needs to move away rapidly from gas heating.
• Boroughs will work collectively to develop skills and procurement models that can build capacity within the sector
The cross-party group London Councils warns the country’s retrofit market is highly unstable after serial failures of past green initiatives to tackle housing carbon emissions.
The National Audit Office slammed delivery standards in the government’s £1.5bn Green Homes Grant scheme as “rushed” and noted the scheme’s design failed to “sufficiently understand the challenges”.
Launched in September 2020 and scrapped in March 2021, the scheme was set up to help homeowners retrofit and insulate their homes.
It warns the industry cannot see a rerun of u-turns on the delivery of the £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and £2.5bn Home Upgrade Grant.
London Councils says that boroughs’ ambitions for retrofitting the capital rely on targeted government investment, facilitating new private financing opportunities, and encouraging funding by landlords and individual households.
Joanne Drew, Co-Chair of the London Housing Directors’ Group, said: “Boroughs are fully committed to the home retrofit agenda and are proud to pioneer a new collaborative approach.
“Our plan identifies the steps needed to turn ambition into reality, setting out the costs involved and measures we will take to work with residents and landlords.”
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