Summary

Following West Lothian Council’s approval of Spark’s Community Asset Transfer for the former Almondbank Library, located on the same site as the working Beatlie School in Craigshill, Livingston, the charity needed to progress a complex energy decoupling and reinstatement project to separate the library’s utilities from the school before the transfer could be completed.

The library building was receiving its utilities through the school, meaning essential services had to be separated from the main school building while protecting the operation of both the school and Spark’s community facilities. The project also created an opportunity to establish an independent, more sustainable energy system for the charity.

PROJECT COMPLEXITY

This was a challenging project from the outset. The work began with limited technical information, including no complete building drawings, limited information about existing services and no reliable utilities usage data. This made it difficult to scope the works, obtain quotations and give contractors the information they needed to price the project with confidence.

As the project progressed, further technical requirements emerged, including the need for flows and loads calculations for the Scottish Water application, additional surveys, utility company approvals and asbestos information. Each new requirement had to be understood, scoped, costed and progressed quickly, while managing wider dependencies around funding, legal transfer and a tight project timescale.

There were also important funding and ownership dependencies to resolve. CARES funding could not be confirmed without Spark owning the building title, while Spark understandably needed confidence that funding would be available before completing the transfer. This required careful coordination and a pragmatic discussion between Spark, West Lothian Council and Local Energy Scotland to find a way to keep the project moving.

DIFFERENCE MADE

Ailsa’s role went beyond project coordination. She helped identify and resolve barriers, bring the right people into the conversation, use her professional network to secure timely input, and maintain momentum across a complex project involving Spark, West Lothian Council, funders, legal advisers, consultants, contractors and utility providers.

By chairing regular project meetings, tracking actions and dependencies, and supporting communication between the different organisations involved, Ailsa helped Spark navigate a challenging process requiring persistence, diplomacy and practical problem-solving.

The project created valuable learning for other community organisations taking on complex utilities, energy decoupling, building separation or reinstatement projects.