Social Enterprise Fund for Community-led Initiatives launched

The Social Enterprise Fund is a new scheme to support social enterprises which enable organisations to access the funds they need to expand and thrive. This £17m fund launched this month will stimulate further growth and support in this area.

The money from The Scottish Social Growth Fund will enable social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups to deliver community projects while contributing to the wider economy.

Organisations will be able to access affordable and flexible loans of between £100,000 and £1.7m from the new fund.

For more details about the new scheme see the Social Investment Scotland website.

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If You Have a Mobile Gas Heater, This Information Could Save Your Life

Unsafe gas appliances can put your life in danger. Make sure you are aware of the potentially dangerous consequences and the warning signals to look out for.

 

A well maintained gas appliance will burn cleanly and will not produce carbon monoxide in significant quantities. However, that changes as appliances wear out and if they are not maintained in good condition. Carbon monoxide is a poison and works by displacing the oxygen in the blood stream, effectively suffocating the body’s organs. You can’t see it. You can’t taste it. You can’t even smell it. But carbon monoxide can kill without warning in just a matter of hours.

You are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning if:

• your appliance was poorly installed;
• your appliance is not working properly;
• your appliance has not been checked for safety or maintained regularly;
• there is not enough fresh air in the room;
• your chimney or flue gets blocked up;
• you allow an engineer who is not on the Gas Safe Register to install or maintain your appliance(s).

But don’t worry, you can protect yourself and your family by following some simple steps.

NEVER use a gas appliance if you think it is not working properly.

NEVER cover an appliance or block the convection air vents.

NEVER block or obstruct any fixed ventilation grilles or air bricks.

NEVER block or cover outside flues.

ALWAYS test your Carbon Monoxide alarm periodically.

ALWAYS have your appliances checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

This advice is especially important for mobile gas heaters, like bottled gas cabinet heaters and any flueless appliance.

We do not recommend mobile gas heaters as they pose an unacceptable risk to tenants and property, and it is illegal to store spare cylinders indoors.

Also, for safety information on gas, solid fuel and oil burning appliances, and information on the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, look at the Department of Health booklet Keep Warm Keep Well (updated annually).

Gas safety advice

If you smell gas or are worried about gas safety call the National Gas Emergency Number on 0800 111 999.

Carbon Monoxide detectors

If your carbon monoxide detector is sounding, call SGN on 0800 111 999.

 

New Build Affordable Housing Target Met

We can confirm that we have met our 2018/19 target for new build affordable homes, with 33 Council and 95 Housing Association properties delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme!

The Scottish Government allocates money each year to part fund affordable housing projects to help achieve their target of 50,000 new supply affordable homes over the lifetime of the parliament.  If councils don’t spend their allocated funds, it goes back into a ring-fenced housing fund.

For the second year running our Angus programme was able to claim more than its allocated funding, due to slippage elsewhere.

This year over £8m of grant money was claimed which is a substantial increase from previous years.

To find out what affordable housing is happening in your area, check out our Housing Development pages.

New Tenants’ Group for Academy Court

Our tenant representatives recently visited Academy Court in Forfar to find out how the residents like their new homes and if they had any ideas, issues or concerns.

It was a busy, informative and successful event with Academy Court tenants deciding they would like to form their own tenants group to have a voice and also get involved in their community. Some of the tenants also signed up to the Tenants E-Panel.

One of the tenants signed up as a volunteer to look after the community garden at Montrose Road centre and support participants. The group was buzzing with ideas and enjoyed the opportunity to share these and build relationships with their neighbours.

If other tenants would like to form a tenant group in their own area, please contact us at tenantparticipation@angus.gov.uk or call us on ACCESS Line 03452 777778

New Affordable Housing at Newtyle

 

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                                                                 An impression of the new homes to be built in Newtyle.

Work has officially begun on our new housing in Newtyle .The company Bancon Construction has been appointed to build 12 new  homes for affordable rent.

Communities Convener, Cllr Mark Salmond said

This is great news for Newtyle and indeed for Angus. As a council, we pride ourselves in investing in new homes across the whole of our county – in our towns and more rural areas, such as Newtyle. It is vital that we provide families with the opportunity to access high quality affordable accommodation in villages, so they can stay within our smaller communities, ensuring that they are sustained and thrive. Newtyle is well served by a range of local services and is ideally located for people who need or want to work in nearby towns and cities across Tayside. Demand for affordable homes has risen in Newtyle over recent years as pressure on existing housing has increased. We want Angus to be a great place to live, work and visit. Those aspirations are achieved through projects such as this – Creating places that people are proud to call home.

Communities vice-convener, Cllr Tommy Stewart and Provost of Angus, Ronnie Proctor were joined by local elected members as well as members of the community, officers from the Council’s Housing Service and representatives of the contractor Bancon Construction.

Here are some photos from the ground-breaking ceremony.

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Affordable Housing for Sale – Shared Equity Scheme at Strathmore Fields Forfar

If you want to own your own home, but are on a low income, here’s an opportunity that might interest you.

Angus Housing Association, in conjunction with Guild Homes, offer 8 three-bedroom houses and 6 two-bedroom houses to buy under the Scottish Government’s New Supply Shared Equity Scheme.

If you are interested in the scheme and want to check if you can apply, please contact Thorntons Solicitors on 01382 229111, or visit their website.

For the full details of the properties check the Angus Housing Association and Thorntons websites and our Housing Development Website.

Timmergreens regeneration updates

The Emislaw site planning application (18/00799/FULL) was recently approved by the Development Standards Committee .The project will deliver 38 modern properties, improving the environment and enhancing people’s quality of life.

The Emislaw site is the first of 4 sites as part of the Timmergreens regeneration project. The new development will provide a range of 1 and 2 bedroom own-door flats and 2 and 3 bedroom houses.

Demolition of the garages on the site has started and the demolition of the 32 existing dwellings should be completed within the next couple of months.

The project will also bring improvements to the play park area and to the pedestrian / cycle link.

The construction work on the site is scheduled to start early 2020 and to complete early 2021.

Muirton site

A planning application was also submitted for the Muirton site (19/00255/FULL) and the construction work is also scheduled to start early 2020.

Fraser Path and Newton sites

Planning applications have still to be submitted for the final two housing phases of the regeneration programme.  These include properties in Fraser Path, with demolition of the identified dwellings planned to take place in summer 2020, and the construction work during 2021.

Demolition of the identified properties in Newton Crescent and Newton Avenue is planned to take place in the first half of 2021, with construction work to start later in 2021 and to complete during 2022.

Information about the developments are available on the Housing Developments webpage.

Transform The Cross – Public Consultation Events

Voluntary Action Angus (VAA) is holding 2 public consultation events at The Cross, Forfar to ask for views on how the building should be used.

 

 

Third Sector Health Hub in Angus

If you are interested in finding out about local organisations who may be able to offer you support visit the Academy Medical Centre in Forfar to find out more.

Third Sector Health Hub  events will take place on the second Thursday of the month for the next 3 months :

Dates:     9^th May,    13^th June,    11^th July

Time:       10.30am –   12noon

Vanue: Academy Medical Centre, Academy Street, Forfar, DD8 2HA

To find out more information about local organisations please download the Information Leaflet

Financial Help for Lower-Income Families from Social Security Scotland

 

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Best Start Grant is a package of three payments intended to give financial support to lower-income families during the key early years of a child’s life. The Best Start Grant payments will be fully available by summer 2019.

Social Security Scotland will start taking applications for these grants on the following dates:

• The Early Learning Payment (a one off payment of £250 for children aged between two and three and a half) – from 8am on 29 April 2019; and
• The School Age Payment (a one off payment of £250 around the time a child would normally start Primary 1) – from 8am on 3 June 2019.

Further details can be found on the Scottish Government website