It isn’t quite the Forth Bridge – but it is a considerable paint job.
Argyll Community Housing Association (Acha) has gone on site with a major external painting project in the Soroba estate, the largest housing scheme in Oban.
The work, which will run until March 2020, involves a new coat of paint on roughcast, windows, facias, soffits, fences and downpipe refurbishment.
The £150,000 contract will cover four blocks at two Colonsay Terrace; nine Colonsay Terrace; eight Scalpay Terrace and 19 Shuna Terrace. Argyll Homes for All, the Associations’s subsidiary’s painting team, is carrying out the job.
Alastair MacGregor, Acha’s chief executive said: “I am delighted this contract has now gone on site. It adds to the multi-million pound investment Acha has already made in Soroba with respect to the internal modernisation of our homes. It complements Acha’s Exemplar Estates initiative which will prioritise external improvements to the housing association’s housing stock over a five year period.”
Oban elected member and secretary of Acha’s board, Councillor Roddy McCuish, said: “I am really pleased to see this external investment work going into properties in my ward which complements the new build activity that Acha is currently just completing in its 107 new build project in Glenshellach.
“Decent, affordable housing is key to the future of Oban and this investment will help protect homes in my ward for the future.”
The Soroba estate was built in the early 1970s to meet huge housing demand in Oban. It was one of Argyll’s largest council housing projects and the stock transferred to Acha in 2006. The association owns 172 properties in Soroba.