February has not just been a longer month than it usually is, but a busy one as well.
Residential
Major residential projects this month include the announcement of a new £98.7 million build-to-rent partnership between developer Amstone Ventures and residential landlord Grainger, which will see 600 apartments being built at Salford Quays. This will be the largest development of this type outside London.
In Norfolk, a consortium of local developers has won a planning appeal against a decision by South Norfolk District Council in 2014 to refuse permission for a development of 650 homes at Cringleford, near Norwich.
The government has published data showing 43 per cent of homes built since 2013 were only constructed because of the scheme. The Ipsos Mori poll also found 82 per cent of those becoming owner-occupiers under the scheme would not have been able to afford to purchase a home without it.
Infrastructure
Balfour Beatty has gained a new £245 million highways contract to repair and maintain roads in Warwickshire, Solihull and Coventry for the next five years.
It means around 120 jobs will be sustained as the Balfour team look after around 5,000 km of roads.
Group chief executive of Balfour Beatty Leo Quinn said: "We build long-term relationships with local authorities that add real value to communities.
"With a clear focus on the outcomes that matter to communities, we are helping local authorities to deliver better value for money."
London mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled plans for two new road tunnels under London aimed at easing congestion as the city's population soars.
The more northerly of the two tunnels would run from the A40 this right: at Park Royal in west London to Hackney Wick to the east, while the southerly tunnel would connect the A4 in Chiswick with the A13 in Beckton.
Both would be built by the 2030s and be funded by tolls.
These are not the only tunnels planned, with the government revealing that over 8,000 people have been to see public displays of the new planned river tunnel linking Essex and Kent between Tilbury and Gravesend.
In the Midlands, Lincoln is to get a new eastern bypass, after a protracted planning row in which residents of three nearby villages protested at plans to block off the road by which they would gain access to the city.
Commercial
Headingley cricket and rugby stadium in Leeds is set for a major redevelopment, centred on the double-sided stand that links the two sporting venues.
The project will increase the number of seats available at the cricket ground, while the rugby stand will be slightly reduced.
However, the project also involves replacing the all-terraced south stand of the rugby ground with a new stand featuring both seated and standing accommodation for spectators.
While parent company Carnegie will be helping Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos rugby league club fund the venture, the project will also receive cash from the sale of two plots of land owned by the Rhinos for housing.
Another sporting institution gaining planning permission to revamp their stadium is Tottenham Hotspur, with London mayor Boris Johnson giving the green light for the rebuilding of White Hart lane as a 61,000-seat stadium with attached housing, commercial space and public space.
Oil and Gas
Work has begun on a new oil and gas facility in Aberdeen, where Sonomatic will be carrying out work in the areas of rope access, automated non-destructive ultrasonic inspection and in the energy and defence sectors.
The £4 million project at Bridge of Don will create around 50 construction jobs, as well as 70 more permanent roles when the facility is operational.
Sonomatic's UK business development manager Tracy Anderson said: "Sonomatic remains committed to its investment plans despite the current market conditions."
Fort Ports has gained permission to build a new quay at Dundee equipped to handle the decommissioning of oil and gas sector vessels.
Measuring 200 metres in length and equipped with large lifting equipment, it is being built at a cost of £10 million and will also act as a base for the offshore renewables sector.
Chief executive Charles Hammond said: "This is an important, privately-funded investment for the Port of Dundee, which is ideally placed to service the needs of North Sea oil and gas, decommissioning and Scotland's offshore wind."
