In today’s edition:
Planning-in-principle application being sought to demolish and develop Scottish Water offices;
275 homes proposal for Granton waterfront;
Speculation that the fire-damaged Debenhams building might be sold, but then again…;
‘Grand vision’ call issued again for Princes Street;
Updates on the day-to-day impacts of the fire;
Expansion works completed at primary school;
Talks expected to conclude with the sale of Powderhall former rail line;
Site news;
Work begins on new Liberton fire station;
Litter picking dates for your diary;
Further homes released for sale at ‘Edmonstone Village’;
Residents reportedly urged to seek temporary accommodation, amid fire safety concerns;
Bruntsfield Links golf hut refurbished;
‘Homelessness prevention fund’ issues first tranche of money;
Office-to-hotel conversion reportedly set to soon open;
Awards shortlisting for The Pitt;
Residents reportedly ‘furious’ about resubmitted Leith planning application;
Date set for palm houses re-opening; and
Enjoy, see you next Friday!
Planning-in-principle application being sought to demolish and develop Scottish Water offices
PLANNING-in-principle is being sought to demolish a standalone office block on Buckstone Terrace owned by Scottish Water.
The application is to demolish and replace it with a mixed-use development, as explained here, ref: 26/02900/PPP.
The proposal was preceded by two public consultation events in March.
Should the PiP be approved, it is expected the site - which includes a large amount of car parking, some of which sits above vital water supply infrastructure - will be marketed for sale.
The next meeting of the city council’s Development Management sub-committee (where such applications are usually considered) is not until the fifth of next month (here), with no agenda as yet uploaded.
The local Fairmilehead Community Council is expected to soon host a public meeting, for residents to discuss the PiP.
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275 homes proposal for Granton waterfront
A PROPOSAL of Application Notice (PAN) has been submitted by the city council, to develop two plots of land in Granton into 275 homes - a mix of ‘council’ and private-for-sale.
The application - here, ref 26/02827/PAN - are for plots ‘B1’ and ‘B2’ within what’s being described as the wider Granton Waterfront Masterplan. Specifically, 250m east of 11 West Shore Road.
Being a PAN requires public consultation, ahead of submitting a more formal planning application.
Two such events have been organised - each taking place at the refurbished former Granton railway station, from 4pm to 7pm: the 24th of next month and the 28th of September.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.
There are also primary school plans for the area - as detailed in this PAN, here (ref: 26/02763/PAN).
Read more, here, on The Edinburgh Reporter website.
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Speculation that the fire-damaged Debenhams building might be sold, but then again…
THERE is speculation that the owners of the fire-ravaged former Debenhams store on Princes Street could pull out, on account of it likely remaining a ‘gap site’ for a relatively long time.
Writes Ian Swanson, in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper - here - a new planning application would be required to progress the hotel plans because of the need, as supposedly recommended by engineers, to remove the upper two floors.
Then again, because of the fire damage, the refurbishment conditions could be less onerous.
And there is further speculation - again reported by Ian Swanson - of a delay in the construction of a hotel, by the Ruby Group, in the empty (following demolition) plot immediately next to the Debenhams building. Here.
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Inquirer website - here - considers what of the building might be saved.
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‘Grand vision’ call issued again for Princes Street
A CALL has been made for Princes Street to be the centre of a plan every bit as ambitious as that which created the New Town - according to The Scotsman newspaper columnist, the broadcaster Stephen Jardine.
Writes (here) Jardine, who is also president of the heritage body, The Cockburn Association: “Where is the great vision or grand plan on the scale of the ambition that young James Craig had when he designed the New Town in 1767?
“We are becoming stupidly careless with our wonderful built heritage and history.
“We need to safeguard the buildings and agree a bold vision for the future before the wail of fire engines echoes down Princes Street again.”
It’s not the first time such a call has been made by either Jardine or others.
PS BuildEdinburgh has pulled together several long-form articles about Princes Street, available to read here. Does that make the website a ‘stakeholder’, eligible to take part in council-organised ‘summits’? It would be nice to think so.
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Updates on the day-to-day impacts of the fire
UPDATES of how the fire damage is affecting the likes of bus and tram travel (with the affected section of Princes Street expected to be closed ‘into August’ - says the city council, here), plus plans to temporarily pedestrianise George Street, are being shared on a dedicated website page, launched by the city council - here.
Meanwhile, the question is being asked: if Princes Street needed to be closed in the future (for whatever reason), where would buses go if George Street was also closed off, following it being wholly pedestrianised - as has been recently advocated? The question comes from local elected member, Cllr Iain Whyte, here in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
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Expansion works completed at primary school
A NEAR £5m expansion of a primary school in the south of the city has been completed.
Six new classrooms, extra office space and ‘improved’ outdoor facilities have been added to Frogston Primary School. Costing, more accurately, £4.6m.
Says a media release (here) issued on behalf of consulting civil, structural and conservation engineers, Will Rudd: “The original school building, completed in 2021, was designed with future expansion in mind as part of The City of Edinburgh Council’s strategy to cater for several new significant housing developments included in the City Plan 2030.
“Foundations were extended at the time to allow the new accommodation to tie seamlessly into the existing substructure. The latest works also include new external facilities and landscaping, with materials carefully selected to match the appearance of the original building.”
The story is picked up by The Herald newspaper, here, and North Edinburgh News, here.
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Talks expected to conclude with the sale of Powderhall former rail line
TALKS are taking place between owners, Network Rail, and the city council with a view to the latter purchasing a former rail line, at Powderhall, to be turned in an ‘active travel’ (walking, cycling, wheeling) path.
It follows a Freedom of Information set of questions submitted by campaigners to Network Rail, which drew the response: “We are currently in discussion with Edinburgh Council about a sale for an Active travel project. As these talks are still underway, we do not have any definitive information as to what extent of the land would be sold or transferred. However, it’s anticipated that the full branch [line] would be sold.”
Read more, here, on the campaign website.
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Site news
LAST week’s offer of a discounted price to upgrade from free membership of BuildEdinburgh to paying is being extended.
The £30-a-year to £20-a-year offer was meant to end tomorrow.
But a community group eNewsletter mentioning the website - for which huge thanks - managed, for some reason, to give the impression the discount is going to continue until the end of the month.
So, the end of the month it is.
Your financial support of BuildEdinburgh will help the site develop its editorial offering.
It is much appreciated.
Work begins on new Liberton fire station
WORK has begun, building a replacement fire station in Liberton.
Says the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, here: “It will be the first new-build station in Edinburgh in more than 30 years and the first anywhere in Scotland since the creation of the national service in 2013.”
Its estimated cost is £10m.
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Litter picking dates for your diary
A LITTER pick is taking place tomorrow, on Calton Hill.
It is kicking off at 10am.
It is being organised by Calton Hill Conservation Trust. Details here.
And another litter pick is taking place - this time on Tuesday evening, from 7pm - at the foot of Cromwell Place, in Leith, where it meets Commercial Street.
It’s being organised by the Edinburgh Trash Club, which has also announced an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ appeal for people to take part in a litter pick on the 29th of next month.
At Marine Esplanade, from 11am-1pm.
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Further homes released for sale at ‘Edmonstone Village’
A FURTHER 14 homes have been released - for sale - in a housing development at ‘Edmonstone Village’, off Old Dalkeith Road, near Danderhall.
When it is completed, in about six years’ time, Edmonstone Village is expected to comprise 312 homes, costing £87m to build - developed by Avant Homes.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News, here.
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Residents reportedly urged to seek temporary accommodation, amid fire safety concerns
WIDELY reported in the media: Residents of an apartment block in Bonnington have been reportedly urged to find temporary accommodation, due to concerns about the fire safely of their building.
Read more about Bonnington Bond, here (BBC), here (STV), here (The Scotsman) and here (Edinburgh Evening News).
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Bruntsfield Links golf hut refurbished
THE wee golf hut at Bruntsfield Links, opposite Barclay Church, has been refurbished - thanks to sponsorship from the owners of the nearby JA The Bruntsfield hotel.
The story is picked up by The Herald newspaper, here.
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Office-to-hotel conversion reportedly set to soon open
A CONVERTED office block, barely 400m from Haymarket rail station, is reportedly set to open as a hotel on the fifth of next month.
The block is to be a Meininger hotel.
The building is understood to be owned and been developed by S Harrison.
Among the media outlets reporting the story is Urban Realm website, here.
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‘Homelessness prevention fund’ issues first tranche of money
BEGINS a news release issued by the Scottish Government, here: “Halfway through the first 100 days of the Scottish Government formed in May, the rollout of an expanded ten-year £50 million Homelessness Prevention Fund is underway.
“£1 million is being made available for a second year to enable social landlords and third sector organisations to support tenants to stay in their homes.”
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Awards shortlisting for The Pitt
THE Pitt street food, venue and ‘community hub, in Granton, has been shortlisted by awards recognising the retrofitting and reuse of buildings.
The awards - (here) being run by the Architects’ Journal - have been organised over various categories, with The Pitt shortlisted in the ‘Future Reuse’ one.
Its designers are S+CO.
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Residents reportedly ‘furious’ about resubmitted Leith planning application
THE front page of today’s Edinburgh Evening News is reporting that residents in Leith are ‘furious’ at a resubmitted planning application that they say is barely any different to one that was recently withdrawn.
The application is to sub-divide and redevelop a car park adjacent to the Malmaison Hotel, on The Shore, into a five-storey block comprising 18 apartments - here, ref: 26/02684/FUL.
The withdrawn application can be found here, ref: 26/00167/FUL. It is not known why the original application was withdrawn (if there is a reason in the documentation accompanying the current planning application, it’s not easy to find).
Read the Edinburgh Evening News article, here.
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Date set for palm houses re-opening
HISTORIC palm houses at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are set to re-open to the general public, follow a restoration programme lasting, it is understood, five years.
Says RBGE, here, a date of October 2 has been set for the re-opening of the Category A-listed buildings.
The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.
Image details: Just off Ferry Road / Crewe Toll; copyright Mike Wilson
Re the rebuilding of Liberton Fire Station: having seen previous comments about the cost of it on another site I took the time to check out the actual press release from SFRS.
It may be slightly ambiguous in its wording, but I think the £10m cost relates to a number of modernisation projects and not just the Liberton replacement.
Gavin Barrie