New heating is on for council tenants

Jun 18 2009 by Alison Anderson, Blairgowrie Advertiser

THE 195 Perth and Kinross Council tenants of Ferguson Park in Rattray were given the good news that their old-fashioned electric storage heaters are to be replaced with gas central heating.

The council’s strategic policy and resources committee approved plans for Scotia Gas Networks to carry out the necessary gas infrastructure works at a cost of £105,000, and also for tenders to be invited for ‘affordable warmth measures’ for the Ferguson Park properties.

The housing estate at Ferguson Park was constructed between 1963 and 1966, and the expensive-to-run electric storage heating was installed as part of a refurbishment programme in the 1980s.

Councillors were told that the tenants at Ferguson Park had, for many years, highlighted high heating costs along with condensation and dampness problems.

The recent rises in fuel costs increased the extent of these problems with the result that many tenants were experiencing difficulties in heating their homes.