News: Wildgoose gets Rotherham school work

Wildgoose Construction has secured the contract to build the new £6m Eastwood Village Primary School in Rotherham.

Plans were passed earlier this year with council architects designing a three storey building on stilts to address concerns over flood risk and overdominance of surrounding properties.

Acting on a particular pressure for school places within the Eastwood and St Ann's areas, Rotherham Council secured £3m from the Government last year and have progressed plans for a new central primary school on allotment land on Eldon Road.

The council plans to borrow the additional funding required over a payback period of 60 years and eventually, the school will be capable of accommodating 315 pupils comprising 45 in each year group, together with a 44-place nursery. The Central Learning Partnership Trust has been chosen as lead sponsors for the new school.

The first completely new primary school to be opened in the borough for over 20 years, the 1,400 sq m development will cost £6.3m and will be constructed with two upper floors over an open basement level, in effect making the building three storey.

The basement will be used for staff parking, areas for recreation and outdoor classrooms, with the ground floor accommodating the classrooms, office, reception, hall and kitchen. The first floor will accommodate further teaching areas and a library.

Cllr Christine Beaumont, Cabinet Member for Children and Education Services for the Council, said the school will be a "much-needed" facility for this area of Rotherham.

She added: "I am delighted to see work starting on this site. Helping people reach their potential in deprived communities is one of the Council's key priorities and this kind of regeneration will assist in raising attainment levels."

Derbyshire-based Wildgoose has also recently started work on Dalton Medical Centre on Saville Street which is a new build medical centre in Rotherham with a pharmacy and associated works attached. At a value of £1.7m, work is anticipated to complete date of June 2015.

Previous work in Rotherham by Wildgoose includes the £3.4m MyPlace centre, a £2.2m housing project at Albany Road, Kilnhurst and the transformation of the former Kimberworth Comprehensive School into a £2.9m children's services centre. The contractors also recently completed the £1.4m new build pub at Waverley.

A planning application for a significant new build school on the site of Oakwood High School in Rotherham was approved by the planning board last week. Kier Construction are to build the school and hope to be complete by July 2016.

Wildgoose Construction

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News: £2.6m housing development opens in Rotherham

The latest housing development led by Rotherham Council will be formally opened next week.

The 21 properties at Albany Road, Kilnhurst comprise two, three and four bed accommodation and have been built to a high specification by Wildgoose Construction, including a full range of energy-efficient features plus security details.

Thirteen of the units are already fully occupied and the remaining eight units are to be handed over to Rotherham Borough Council next week.

The £2.6m Kilnhurst scheme is the fourth of seven local authority developments to be completed across the borough. New developments at Newland Avenue and Stone Park Close, Maltby; and at Wood Street, Thrybergh, are already let.

A total of 132 homes are to be built by the end of the autumn, as a result of Rotherham Borough Council receiving £8.7m from the National Affordable Housing programme specifically for the building of brand-new council housing from the Homes and Communities Agency.

The remaining properties to become available throughout the year will include 29 at Albert Road, West Melton; 29 at Rother View Road, Canklow; and five in newly named Whitehill Willow off Whitehill Road, Brinsworth.

Coun. Rose NcNeely, Cabinet Member for Safe and Attractive Neighbourhoods, said she was delighted to see yet another council housing development come on line.

She added: "This remarkable development is already providing wonderful much-needed new homes for the authority's tenants. These houses have been built to an incredibly high specification and offer high energy-efficient living as standard."

Tamsin Hart, Project Manager for the Homes and Communities Agency said: "It is great that our investment continues to provide local people with the homes that they want available in a way that they can afford. I am really pleased that Rotherham Council is on track to provide new homes for 597 people by the end of the year."

Wildgoose, with the help of YORbuild, approached Dearne Valley College to offer its students placements on its Rotherham construction sites.

Rotherham Council website

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News: Wildgoose Construction builds partnership with Dearne Valley College

Wildgoose Construction has formed an innovative partnership with Dearne Valley College in Rotherham in a bid to give students a head-start in the building industry.

The link up will see local students benefit from work placements on Wildgoose Construction sites. The Derbyshire company has recently transformed the former Kimberworth Comprehensive School and has started on site at a £3.4m My Place Centre in Rotherham town centre.

Jonathan Wildgoose, chairman of Wildgoose Construction said: "Wildgoose welcomes the opportunity to support young people entering the building industry and especially to work with the staff and students at Wath, which has excellent courses for the building trades.

"As an Investor in People company, the Wildgoose name has always been associated with training and apprenticeship schemes and we are delighted to be able to assist these students on the first step of a career in the construction industry."

As part of the partnership, Jonathan Wildgoose went along to the college to present students with health and safety certificates.

The Construction Industry Training Board certificate is an introduction to site safety made up of 15 sections on risks and hazards associated with construction sites.

Covered over the course of a day with a multi-choice test at the end, students gain a basic understanding and awareness of health and safety duties and responsibilities of potential risks and hazards on a construction site.

As well as their certificates, students were also presented with high visibility jackets and hard hats.

Gary Lee, Dearne Valley College construction programme area manager, said he thought the partnership was a great idea.

He said: "We are delighted that Jonathan has taken the time out to attend college and present the students with their certificates. Through the partnership we are working towards enhancing the work placements to be developed into apprenticeship programmes."

Wildgoose website
DVC website

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News: Wildgoose projects progress in Rotherham

Wildgoose Construction has completed one multi-million pound project in Rotherham and has begun work on a second.

The Derbyshire company has transformed the former Kimberworth Comprehensive School in Rotherham into a new £2.9m children's services centre for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and NHS Rotherham.

Wildgoose has also started on site at a £3.4m My Place Centre in Rotherham town centre for Chantry YMCA and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

The children's services centre was completed in 40 weeks and comprised internal and external repair, refurbishment and alteration, including the demolition of a former caretaker's house and former science block, excavation to create a road and construction of a retaining wall.

The building will act as an office base for 15 teams and 170 staff who will deliver services to the children, young people and families of Rotherham.

Tim Walker, managing director of Wildgoose Construction, said it had been a pleasure working again with the borough council and its architects.

He said: "Their vision has transformed the disused Kimberworth School into a building which will go on to serve the community in its new role for many years to come.

Andrew Parry, project lead from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, added: "The works that have taken place have transformed the building and site and myself and the clients involved are highly delighted with the project. The finished product has surpassed everyone's expectations where it has been a privilege to restore such a grand building to its former glory."

The My Place Centre will focus on social enterprise activity and recreational activities.

An alternative curriculum will be offered to young people who have been excluded from mainstream schools.

Connexions and Rotherham Children, Young People and Families Voluntary Sector Consortium will also provide support on a range of issues such as homelessness, sexual health and drug rehabilitation.

The centre will also offer a range of facilities for youngsters aged 11 to 19, including a graffiti room, IT suite, cinema, performance hall and rooftop café.

Tim Walker added: "We are also delighted to have been chosen to deliver the new My Place centre in Rotherham, which will give the young people of the area a vibrant and exciting focal point in which to channel their individualism and ideas and also provide additional employment to the local community in both full-time and part-time capacities."

"The construction of both projects has allowed us to give work opportunities to the community local to the sites as well as placing material orders with Rotherham based suppliers, which has given the local economy a much needed financial boost."

Wildgoose website

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News: Construction starts on new Rotherham council houses

Work is progressing on the six new council housing build sites in Rotherham, the first for over 25 years.

In total there will be 127 units developed for the authority on six sites across the Borough after the £8.5m of grant funding the council secured from the Homes and Communities Agency escaped the cuts.

29 houses and apartments are set to be built by Wates Living Space at the Rother View Road, Canklow.

Wildgoose Construction are building 29 houses, apartments and bungalows on Albert Road, West Melton and 21 houses on Albany Road, Kilnhurst.

Eight houses and bungalows are to be built at Newland Avenue, Maltby, by Bramalls, while four apartments are to be built at Stone Park Close in Maltby by TH Michaels.

George Hurst and Sons Ltd began work last month on 36 houses and apartments at Wood Street, Thrybergh.

Work on all the sites will start before September with all properties being built to Lifetime Homes and Building for Life silver standards in addition to achieving Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

These standards are above and beyond the typical open-market house building standards and will ensure a high-quality build, a safe environment and incorporate high energy efficiency measures, making them affordable for council tenants to live in.

The Council has also ensured that its commitment to local labour has resulted in apprentices and work experience students working on the sites. As part of the YORbuild framework - under which the contractors have been appointed - two apprentices and three placements from Thrybergh Comprehensive School will be working on Wood Street site.

Cllr Jahangir Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods for the Council, said: "After waiting for so many years to be able to build new council housing, to see these developments physically taking shape is fantastic.

"It's also great to see local labour being used on the constructions and the future of the borough being supported with both apprentices student placements getting the sort of training and expertise that will help to set them up for life."

Joanne Jamieson, Business Unit Director for Wates Living Space in Yorkshire , said: "We're really pleased to be involved in delivering these long-awaited new homes for Rotherham.

"We look forward to working in partnership with the Council not only to build houses but to bring community benefits and investment for local people and businesses."

Rotherham Council website

Images: wates.co.uk

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News: Wildgoose to build next Business Incubation Centre in Rotherham

Rotherham Investment & Development Office, the regeneration arm of Rotherham Council, have selected Chesterfield firm Wildgoose Construction to build a new £3.3 million Business Incubation Centre in Dinnington. The building will house up to 40 companies and contain environmentally-friendly features including the use of glass to make the most of natural light and a wood-chip burning boiler.

RiDO website

Wildgoose website

The Star article

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