Construction, Rail and Infrastructure Update

This weeks Construction, Rail and Infrastructure news:

The government has announced plans for infrastructure reform through strengthening the new National Infrastructure Commission. Adding transparency to local government and speeding up the planning process by minimising delays caused by pre-commencement planning conditions. The compulsory purchase order process will also be made clearer, fairer and faster.

Kier has been awarded a £14m project to refurbish Edinburgh College of Art. Refurbishment of the 3 storey 12,000 m2 sandstone building will take place in 2 phases starting in June with completion due in December 2018.

Alstom has been awarded planning permission for a new training facility in the North West. Construction of North West Transport Training Academy is due to start later this year and will allow the existing workforce to benefit from learning new skills as well as supporting graduates and apprentices. The academy will provide training in engineering, manufacturing, project management, and other vital skills and act a centre for research and development within the transport sector.

Miller Homes has been fined £100k following their involvement in a water pollution incident in Huddersfield in 2013. Flannery Civil Engineering Ltd who were contracted by Miller Homes was fined £9k in March for their involvement in the incident which saw silt and sediment from their construction site pollute a nearby watercourse.

A review carried out by KPMG has revealed a jump in the value of the UK Government construction pipeline. The report shows a £62.2bn spike of spending on government-funded projects from August 2015 taking the total spend to £181bn. 15 sectors were covered in the report including transport which had a £32bn increase attributable to HS2 phases 1 and 2; Education which sees an additional £15bn and the energy sector which increased by £10bn due to additional spending on nuclear decommissioning.

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