Business
The Importance of Choosing the Right Building Materials
![](https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/building-materiuals-e1721032265452.jpg)
Construction is an industry of indescribable importance to national growth and infrastructure, and an industry that is itself growing. In recent months the construction industry has grown by 1.9%, as more and more domestic and commercial projects are approved. There are many important considerations within construction, but building materials are amongst the most crucial – and here’s why.
Durability and Longevity
The first consideration for choosing the right building material is its physical properties. The material you choose should suit its task, and guarantee a base level of constancy post-build. If a construction is threatening to require maintenance before ten years have passed, you have essentially failed at choosing the right material. Durability ensures your build can withstand knocks during construction, and longevity ensures your build continues to stand thereafter.
Cost Efficiency
The durability and longevity of good-quality building materials also speak to the cost efficiency of a given project, commission or contract. Simply put, quality materials from a reliable supplier are less likely to arrive defective, or to break or fail during construction. Cost efficiency also, naturally, relates to choosing the right materials for the right job; it should be apparent to anyone that rare and exotic hardwoods have no place in the construction of stud walls.
Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact
Making the right decisions regarding building materials is not solely predicated on the tangibles of longevity and money, though – there are greater issues to bear in mind too, chief amongst which is the environment. In a world beset by grave consequences for unsustainable actions, choosing building materials is an ethical decision too. When it comes to buying timber products, you can find carbon-negative solutions for common materials like OSB, thus reducing the indirect impacts of your build.
In the longer term, the material make-up of the finished product will directly influence its energy efficiency. This is reflected in ecological data surrounding construction and infrastructure, otherwise known as the ‘built environment’; recent data suggests 40% of carbon emissions are derived from the built environment, rendering all the clearer the importance of making shrewd, energy-efficient design and material decisions.
Safety and Compliance
When constructing projects of any size, it is paramount to consider the safety implications of the designs being built – and of the materials you choose. Building regulations exist to protect everyone, from contractors to passers-by to the occupants or users of a finished build – and exact a heavy cost where contractors have not been compliant.
Aesthetic Appeal and Brand Image
Finally, and unavoidably, there is the aesthetic element. Building materials need not be purely pragmatic choices, and can provide value beyond their core purpose. Indeed, some materials have little purpose other than to clad or finish a project, making aesthetics of key importance.
Business
West Wales airport most people have never flown from under new management
![](https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/swansea-airport.jpg)
A NEW group has taken over the operation of Swansea Airport after what were described as high-level talks with the site’s owner, Swansea Council. Swansea Airport Stakeholders Alliance is running the airport on a temporary basis after the previous leaseholder agreed to relinquish its lease.
The airport will continue to operate, and the council said it would soon start a process to find a long-term tenant. Council leader Rob Stewart said: “We’re delighted to have the alliance in place as a temporary new leaseholder. They’ve started running the airport and its members are eager to make a success of it.”
Council joint deputy leader David Hopkins said: “We’ll start to look for a long-term solution through a competitive tender process. The alliance will have the opportunity, with others, to bid in that process. There’ll be opportunities for future investment in Swansea Airport.”
The council said a range of issues with the previous tenant had arisen over recent years, resulting in the existing lease being brought to an end. It did not envisage any additional cost to the taxpayer and said the airport would remain open.
Bob Oliver, chairman of the alliance, said: “Today marks the culmination of three years of intensive work by the alliance. I pay tribute to the skill and professionalism of alliance members, of our stakeholders and of the council, who have put their faith in us to secure a brighter future for the airport.
“Our first task is to take stock of what we have inherited and then begin to bring the airport back to life – to make it a welcoming place to visit, to start delivering social, environmental and economic benefits to the council and the people of Swansea and to make it a facility we can all be proud of.”
Business
Local builder named as top finalist in Screwfix Tradesperson Awards 2024
![](https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/solva.jpg)
SOLVA builder Chris James is constructing his way to the top after being shortlisted for the final ten of the 2024 Screwfix Top Tradesperson Award.
The 37-year-old, who has been in the construction industry for the past 15 years, will now go head-to-to-head with nine other finalists from across the UK and Ireland after beating off fierce competition from over 1,000 applicants.
Chris’s company, Kingsmere Carpentry and Construction, is also committed to raising funds after securing over £50,000 for the children’s charity ‘Farms for City Children’. The charity enables children from disadvantaged communities to find out about working on farms in the countryside.
Chris is also committed to working sustainably bu using waste responsibly by using excess wood to fuel fires. He also plans to invest in a new fleet of electric or hybrid vehicles for use in his company.
In addition to gaining the coveted title, the, the winner will take home a trade bundle of tech, tools and training worth £20,000.
The finals take place at Screwfix LIVE on Friday, September 27 where a panel of industry experts will put Chris and the other finalists through their paces before selecting this year’s overall champion.
Business
Nearly 100 new homes ‘for local people’ approved in Tenby
![](https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Brynhir-development.jpg)
A CONTROVERSIAL Tenby housing scheme with nearly 100 “local houses for local people” which will be visible from the island of Caldey has been approved by national park planners
In 2018, Pembrokeshire County Council, which already owned the 15-acre Brynhir site on the edge of Tenby, ‘bought’ the land for £4million using its Housing Revenue Account.
Campaigners fought a two-year battle against the use of the land for housing, calling for protection for ‘Tenby’s last green space’ and fearing it would become a ‘concrete jungle’.
The county council was granted outline planning permission by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority for the development of 144 properties – including up to 102 affordable units – in 2020.
It is now proposed that only 125 houses will be built, 93 of them affordable, and, of the 32 Open market dwellings, 16 are shared ownership properties.
Amendments also included the removal of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), one of two Local Equipped Area for Play Spaces (LEAPS) instead providing a multi-use space for ball games.
The reserved matters application, backed in principle by Tenby Town Council, was recommended for conditional approval at the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park development management committee meeting of September 4, despite being contrary to the provisions of the Development Plan.
Tenby Civic Society has raise numerous concerns to the scheme and 20 objections were also received from members of the public, raising concerns including loss of green space, traffic issues, privacy, design, visual impacts and the scale of the development, sewage capacity, the site being no longer allocated for housing, potential antisocial behaviour within the play area, and a limitation on second homes/holiday lets being required.
At the September meeting, concerns about the proposal were raised by Jane Merrony of 1,100-member Tenby Green Space Preservation Society, who said it was inappropriate in its proposed location and “a visual intrusion which will be seen from Caldey Island”.
She told members the scheme would place “extreme pressure” on existing waste water infrastructure and questioned the viability of the development, with fears it could be sold off to a private developer.
The application was passed by park planners after approval was moved by Cllr Di Clements, who expressed her difficulty in weighing the balance between green spaces and housing needs.
Speaking after the meeting, local county councillor, and committee member, Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said building work was expected to start next year, adding: “These will be let on a local letting policy – they will be local houses for local people. They can’t be sold, they will always be council housing.”
She added: “I believe that this is a hugely important decision for Tenby. We need housing for local people and I am delighted that 93 properties will be council housing. This is good news for our Schools and good news for Tenby. Properties will be let on a strict local letting policy, which means Tenby and the immediate surrounding area only.
“I would like to congratulate the teams from Pembrokeshire County Council on getting to this stage but I also say loudly and clearly that the real hard work starts now and we have to do all that we can to ensure that these properties are built as soon as possible. We have a housing crisis now and need these properties built and let to local people.
“I know that not everyone will be happy. There are people who opposed the scheme for quite legitimate reasons but in the end, for me the balance of the argument was in favour of the scheme and the housing it will provide.”
Fellow Tenby councillor Michael Williams welcomed the scheme but raised concerns about foul water drainage.
“The initial proposal was to run foul water in a North Westerly direction with a new pipeline and despite reassurances from Dwr Cymru I still have major concerns about the capacity of the existing system to deal with such a large development. There are also in my opinion unaddressed concerns regarding storm water runoff and inadequate landscaping on the southern boundary.”
-
Crime4 days ago
Man who threatened to chop off teenage girl’s ears given community sentence
-
Crime7 days ago
Three men in charged with kidnap following attack on west Wales man
-
Entertainment5 days ago
Mary Poppins star Glynis Johns laid to rest in West Wales
-
Crime5 days ago
Burglary at Royal Mail Sorting Office in Pembroke Dock
-
Crime6 days ago
Woman charged with murder of six-year-old boy in Swansea
-
Crime3 days ago
Taxi driver’s death leads to death by dangerous driving charge
-
News7 days ago
Former Tasker Milward pupil Matt Bush claims Taekwondo Gold
-
Crime6 days ago
How Dyfed-Powys Police cracks down on the drug gangs exploiting West Wales