Orkney Islands Council is currently looking at a variety of options to support the local building trade through the current credit crunch.

This includes a massive £13m investment over the next 3 years in Council house building.

The Council has committed to providing an additional 100 social rented houses per year over the next three years and are currently working with Orkney Housing Association (OHAL) on this.

It will be increasing its own housing stock by at least 40 houses per year which will be added to the 60 to be delivered by Orkney Housing Association through the affordable housing investment programme.

The Council is currently in discussion with a number of local building firms about acquiring properties that they currently have under construction or planned for construction. This type of approach to the Council is open to all those in the construction sector.

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The Council is also exploring options to bring forward funding for building and engineering works.

It is hoped that a variety of tender opportunities will be advertised in the local press in the first three months of 2009.

Building works to be tendered for in early 2009 include fire safety upgrades, external works at Picky Campsite and the Cavern Youth Club refurbishment.

On the civil engineering side this includes coastal protection projects at Ashby in South Ronaldsay, surface water drainage improvements at Cairston Road in Stromness and the provision of a number of traffic calming and pedestrian measures in the Quoybanks area of Kirkwall.

The move has been prompted by a recent meeting between the Building Trades Federation and the Convener and Vice Convener of the Council, Stephen Hagan and James Stockan.

The meeting was called by the Council to discuss concerns over a down turn of orders for work in the private housing market and in other building and civil engineering works in Orkney.

Stephen Hagan said: "The Council will do everything that it can to ease problems with workload for the local building sector. As well as tender opportunities in the New Year, there are a number of large projects on the horizon.

"This includes the development of the former Jewson site and the old library in Kirkwall. In Stromness, plans for the redevelopment of the pierhead in Stromness continue and there is also potential for development opportunities at Old Mart Site."

(GK/KMcA)