The Unite Group has been given the go-ahead for a one acre site in central Liverpool that will see the building of new student accommodation.

The development will provide 772 beds for the city’s students and is expected to be completed in 2017.

The building on the site was having previously been used as a car park is in close proximity to the city centre’s amenities and transport links, and will complement Unite’s existing properties in the city.

The scheme will have a total development cost of around £46 million and is expected to deliver returns in line with Unite’s targets for regional development.

The plans, which were approved by Liverpool City Council Planning Committee last month, will see four blocks, made up of 106 cluster flats and 58 studios and totalling 772-bedrooms.

The development would range in height up to 11-storeys and will include ground floor retail units.

Unite Students currently operate 10 properties in Liverpool providing a home for nearly 4000 students in the city.

Richard Simpson, Managing Director of Property for Unite, said: “Liverpool is a thriving university city attracting students from across the UK and internationally.

“Students continue to be important contributors to the local economy and this new development will ease pressure on private residential housing in the area.”

Improvements on the A12 and A14 have moved a step closer today with the appointment of a contractor for the scheme that will start work this year.

Tarmac working on behalf of Highways England will be carrying out a package of works on the A12 and A14 through Marylands interchange, Copdock Mill and Seven Hills interchange.

The work will involve resurfacing, replacing and installing new signs, replacing road markings, barrier renewal, drainage and embankment work.

The £3 million contract is part of our commitment in the region to improve safety and increase the capacity of roads to help ease congestion and ensure better journey experiences across the East region’s busiest roads.

All of the work will be carried out overnight and during the week, to keep disruption to a minimum. More details about the work will be announced shortly once we have a programme from the contractor.

Aran Nugent, Service Delivery Team Leader at Highways England, said: “The appointment of the contractor is a vital part of the delivery of improvements to some of our major roads in Essex and Suffolk.

“We expect the work to start in the winter and be completed in the spring next year. We will work with the contractor on how the works will affect people, but I’d like to assure drivers, where possible, disruption will be kept to a minimum and to bear with us while the works take place as there will be a small amount of pain for a large amount of gain.”

Morgan Sindall has started work on two schools for Birmingham City Council, won under the Constructing West Midlands (CWM) framework.

Paganel Primary School on Swinford Road, Selly Oak, and Cherry Oak Special Needs School on Frederick Road are the first of eight schools that Morgan Sindall will be working on in the region under the framework.

The Paganel Primary School project comprises the construction of a £1.5 million extension which is due to complete in early 2016.

The work will allow the school to increase its existing 294 places and will give the pupils, teachers and school users a new and modernised learning environment.

Linda Waldron, placement officer at South and City College Birmingham, said: “We are very happy to be working with Morgan Sindall on the school contracts.

“The opportunities provide excellent work experience and employment for our construction students across a variety of trades, ranging from bricklaying and plumbing to quantity surveying, which provides a great start to their careers.”

Richard Fielding, area director at Morgan Sindall, said: “Both schools are undergoing transformations to enhance the learning environment for pupils under the CWM framework.

“The extensions on each school will allow for a higher pupil intake and give the teachers more space. Cherry Oak is a special school and the new space will also allow for parents to have a specific room to meet in and to liaise with teachers which is extremely important to them.

“At Morgan Sindall, we are determined to deliver social and economic benefits alongside our projects, so we recruit and employ local subcontractors and suppliers.

“We are also working with South and City College Birmingham to provide recruitment and training programmes for local people across all eight schools, which will provide fantastic hands-on experience for them.”

Chancellor George Osborne has anounced a £100 billion investment in this Parliament for new roads, rail, flood defences and other infrastructure projects.

Launching the new National Infrastructure Commission, led by former Cabinet minister Lord Adonis, the Chancellor said that infrastructure will be at the heart of next month’s Spending Review.

In his statement, he pledged £100 billion in infrastructure spending by 2020 – including full funding for the £15 billion Roads Investment Strategy.

A suite of asset sales which the Treasury expects to raise billions of pounds is being identified to be ploughed back into infrastructure projects that will create thousands of jobs in the trades.

The Chancellor said: “This is about jobs, growth, living standards and ensuring Britain is fit for the future. We must be the builders. At the Spending Review, I will commit to investing £100bn in infrastructure over the next five years and we are creating an independent commission to give us a long-term, unbiased analysis of the country’s major infrastructure needs.

“We need to think long-term and deliver a cross-party consensus on what we need to build. I am delighted Andrew Adonis and this world-class group of experts have agreed to come together on the National Infrastructure Commission to help us do that.”

Lord Adonis said: “For Britain to get on with the job of delivering high-quality infrastructure that benefits everyone, you need more than just a commitment to invest – you need long term forward plans and the maximum possible consensus.”

Orbit Homes has unveiled its plans for a £70 million St Anne’s Quarter development in Norwich city centre that will see the building of 437 new homes.

St Anne’s Quarter will comprise 22,000 square foot of commercial space, and a central plaza area along the riverfront, which includes a landscaped open space.

The plans will see the first homes due for completion in summer 2017, offering a mix of studio, one, and two bedroom apartments and houses, as well as eight commercial units.

Maggie McCann, development director for Orbit Homes, said: “We know there is a lot of public interest in the site, with it having stood empty for almost 20 years, so we were delighted to share our plans with the local community.

“We have committed to spending £70 million to regenerate St Anne’s Quarter into a mixed-tenure sustainable development that will provide new homes to meet need and aspiration in Norwich. Orbit has a target of building 12,000 new homes by 2020 and this is a key site in helping us reaching that goal.”

Ahead of construction, Orbit Homes appointed Norwich Property Services (NPS) Archaeology to excavate the site, ensuring any historical finds are recorded and preserved.

With the 18-week programme of archaeology now coming to an end, Orbit Homes is currently in the process of appointing a building contractor. Construction is expected to begin in early 2016.

Affordable housing provider, Wates Living Space, has commenced work to develop a brand new apartment complex on Hesketh Road in Stafford.

Wates has now begun work to deliver the £5.59 million package of works, which will include the demolition of five multi-storey apartment blocks and associated garages to create 63 brand new affordable one and two-bedroom homes.

Designed by architects, Pozzoni LLP, the regeneration scheme forms part of a wider investment in the town and surrounding areas by SARH, and marks the first time Wates Living Space has worked with the social landlord.

Planning permission for the Hesketh Road scheme was granted in July, a milestone in the £40 million SARH programme to build over 300 energy efficient homes in Stafford. Completion is scheduled for early 2017.

Wates Living Space has made a commitment to ensuring that the local community and economy benefit from the work.

This includes a pledge to create extensive opportunities for training and employment throughout the project and the appointment of local sub-contractors and suppliers to support project delivery.

The project will also see Wates Living Space appoint wholly owned SARH trading subsidiary, Housing Worx, to install kitchens in the new homes.

Karen Armitage, SARH Chief Executive, added: “We are delighted that this exciting project is now well underway as it will provide a huge boost for the local community. As well as providing much needed affordable homes it will also help to drive regeneration in the area.”

Lee Sale, Regional Business Director, Wates Living Space said: “Wates Living Space believes that building new homes is about much more than bricks and mortar and we will work closely with SARH to ensure that we create extensive benefits for local people throughout the project and beyond completion.”

The Ferrybridge Mutlifuel 2 (FM2) Power Station was given the go-ahead this week by the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

The proposed multifuel power station will have a capacity of up to 90 MWe Gross, capable of producing low carbon electricity and heat primarily through waste derived fuel.

The site is located within the site of Ferrybridge ‘C’ Power Station, Stranglands Lane, Knottingley, West Yorkshire.

The decision follows an examination process completed within the statutory timescales laid down in The Planning Act 2008 (as amended by The Localism Act 2011). It is the 9th power station examined by the Planning Inspectorate to gain development consent.

Following a six month examination during which the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, a recommendation was made to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on 29 July 2015.

The Planning Inspectorate’s interim Chief Executive, Steve Quartermain, said:“The decision announced today supports the recommendation made by the Planning Inspectorate and is the 43rd application for a nationally significant infrastructure project to be examined.”

“A major priority for us over the course of the examination was to ensure that communities who might be affected by this proposal had the opportunity to put forward their views. As always, the Examining Authority gave careful consideration to these before reaching its conclusion.”

The Welsh Government‘s flagship £100 million regeneration scheme, VVP, has found it is delivering significant benefits to the Welsh economy and communities across the country.

The report highlights the programme will create more than 2,000 jobs, support 3,000 people into work and bring a further £300 million into Wales.

It is also expected to deliver 1,000 additional affordable homes and more than 2,300 homes in the private sector.

Through VVP, 11 local authorities across Wales are sharing £100 million in capital funding between 2014 and 2017. The funding is being invested in a range of regeneration projects in town centres, coastal communities and Communities First areas, with significant progress being made across Wales

An independent group was appointed to review the success of VVP to inform future funding decisions for the programme. Their report endorses the scheme’s aims and says it is generating major benefits for Welsh communities, while setting out ways the programme could be strengthened even further in future, should there be another funding round.

Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, Lesley Griffiths, said:”Our flagship VVP programme is at the very heart of our work to create jobs, boost the economy, increase the supply and quality of housing, and tackle poverty.

“This is why I am delighted this independent report so clearly endorses our approach to regeneration and highlights the huge impact the programme is set to have in Welsh communities.

“I would like to thank the group’s members for using their wealth of expertise in various areas to assess the success of VVP and inform future work.”

Transport for London is driving forward plans for the £27 billion Crossrail 2 rail scheme as it seeks to get Government approval next spring.

The next step in taking forward this vital new Crossrail 2 railway is the launch of a public consultation today on more detailed plans for the project, which could bring huge economic benefits across the UK.

Benefits from the project would be felt across the UK, supporting thousands of new homes and jobs in the building trades.

Some 200,000 new homes and 200,000 new jobs could be supported by the scheme, through the housing and economic growth it would support, with 60,000 full-time jobs also being supported through the construction and operation of Crossrail 2.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: “Crossrail 2 will be a vital new transport link that will significantly improve capacity on the rail network into and out of London. It will also provide a major boost for jobs, new homes and economic growth here in the Capital and far beyond.”

Michele Dix, TfL’s Managing Director of Crossrail 2, said: “Crossrail 2 will provide a UK-wide economic boost supporting hundreds of thousands of new homes and jobs. It is also vital to meet the demands of London’s rapidly growing population.”

LiveWire have appointed BAM Construction as the preferred contractor to carry out work to transform the existing Great Sankey Leisure Centre in Warrington into a neighbourhood hub.

Construction, which is set to begin on phase 1 of the £16 million project at the start of next month, will revamp the centre into a state-of-the-art integrated facility which will provide leisure, health and cultural services for the people of west Warrington.

The dementia friendly facility will include a fitness suite, swimming pools, sports hall, tennis courts, 3G pitch, GP surgeries, library, cafe and health and wellbeing facilities including a spa, with phase 1 set to open to the public in Autumn 2016.

BAM’s national charity partner is the Alzheimer’s Society and the partnership provides opportunities for the team to fully embrace with, and create, a true dementia friendly environment for local people.

Managing Director at LiveWire, Jan Souness, said: “We are pleased to announce the appointment of BAM as the contractor to carry out the development of the existing Great Sankey Leisure Centre to transform it into a modern integrated facility for the whole community.”

Construction Director at BAM, Ian Fleming, said:“It’s very important to us to deliver this project successfully for the whole community, and not just to build a fantastic facility but to make the opportunity of the build itself into a positive experience for them.

“We’re really looking forward to engaging people and creating something that will truly enhance the lives of everybody who lives here.”