The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Turf cutting ceremony marks beginning of £10m housing plan
Work on a major affordable housing development has got under way.
A turf cutting ceremony was held to mark the start of the £10 million Gannochy Trust project.
The trust was founded in 1937 by the distiller and philanthropist Arthur Kinmond Bell.
The new development, within the existing Gannochy Estate, is described as “a key part of an anticipated £25 million of investment by the trust in the Perth and Kinross area over the next five years”.
The project was launched in 2012 to mark the group’s 75th anniversary.
Trustees want to develop and extend the model housing estate laid out between 1923 and 1931 by AK Bell.
Chairman Dr James Kynaston cut the ceremonial first turf.
Final plans were revealed last week at an event for existing tenants of the Gannochy Estate and people living nearby.
A total of 48 new homes will be built, comprising 38 two-bedroom houses (detached and semi-detached), six onebedroom houses (terraced) and four three-bedroom houses which will be two storey with a fully accessible ground floor to accommodate any disabled family members.
The trust and its design team has worked with the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit at Glasgow School of Art with help from the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre to develop house designs which will deliver healthy, wellventilated homes.
Two important parts of this are the use of natural insulation to allow the houses to “breathe” and enhanced natural ventilation.