In the news, w/e June 19

Editor

Jun 19, 2026

In today’s edition:

Western Harbour - 212 homes application;
Braids estate traffic diversion barriers to be removed;
Powderhall ‘active travel’ path campaign boosted by MSP’s support;
Average house price, Scotland;
Reprieve expected for Marionville fire station;
New retail space being applied for at Fort Kinnaird;
Budget request submitted to employ additional ‘problem landlord’ officers;
Scottish Government to be asked to define a ‘green’ data centre;
Apartments plan lodged for Leith-based Victorian engine shed;
Fringe Society HQ unveiled;
Office-to-’apart-hotel’ conversion plan submitted;
Willowbrae Road gap site the subject of hotel planning application;
‘Wembley Way’ plan unveiled for Royal Highland Centre;
Obituary published of ‘saviour’ of Edinburgh’s built heritage;
Water of Leith: challenges and celebrations;
After Holyrood, has Scottish architecture lost its verve?
Perks for paying subscribers; and
Enjoy, see you next Friday!

Western Harbour - 212 homes application

A PLANNING application has been submitted to build 212 homes at Western Harbour.

The application follows a Proposal of Application Notice - here, ref: 25/06573/PAN - submitted in December..

Says a media release on behalf of the applicant -house builders, Cullross: “Extensive engagement with the local community has taken place over recent months, including two well-attended public consultation events in January and February at the Heart of Newhaven, where 116 people participated across both sessions.

“Meetings have also been held with key stakeholders, including Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council and Western Harbour Owners’ Association.”

Read more, on western-harbour.com. And, at the time of writing, more details are expected soon on the website of PR and public affairs company, Orbit.

Braids estate traffic diversion barriers to be removed

A NARROW 6-5 vote has agreed to remove traffic diversion barriers on the Braids estate, while accepting that a similar ‘modal filter’ on Canaan Lane should remain.

The barriers include where Braid Road meets Hermitage Drive.

In what must rank as one of the longest and most diverse debates about a specific topic at the city council’s Transport and Environment committee yesterday (here, agenda item 7.3), it essentially came down to the risk of a legal challenge (against a decision to keep the ‘filters’) versus providing safe spaces, particularly for young people.

The long-lasting deliberations - remarked upon during the debate, since other city areas having their own issues - was preceded by several deputations and included a presentation from Cllr Ben Parker (in favour of keeping the filters, supporting deputations from local school groups).

Powderhall ‘active travel’ path campaign boosted by MSP’s support

A CAMPAIGN to turn a former rail line in north Edinburgh into an ‘active travel’ (walking, cycling and wheeling) route has reportedly received the backing of a local MSP.

Writes Sarah Challen Flynn, in Sunday’s edition of The National newspaper, here: “Since trains stopped running on the Powderhall railway line between St Mark’s Park and Meadowbank - in north Edinburgh, ten years ago - the line has remained vacant.”

And she quotes local MSP, Ben Macpherson, saying a path requires to be opened to the general public “sooner rather than later”.

Among other things, land ownership - involving rail infrastructure organisation, Network Rail - requires resolving.

The campaign is quoted, as saying: “We want to get people thinking about how [the path] could be used (ie not just a cycle path) and how it might progress.”

Suggestions include benches, children’s play space, murals, gardening sites and ecological conservation.

Average house price, Scotland

THE average price of a house in Scotland - during April - was £192,000 - according to the National Records of Scotland.

Says NRS, here, £192,000 represents at 2.8 per cent increase on the same time last year, and a 2.7 per cent increase on the average price in March.

Reprieve expected for Marionville fire station

AN Edinburgh fire station is expected to saved from closure, according to a recommendation to be presented to the board of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The station - in Marionville - had been subject to a high-profile campaign to save it from closure.

And the campaign appears to have paid off - here. At least for now.

The SFRS board is meeting on Monday.

The story is picked up by The Edinburgh Reporter website, here.

New retail space being applied for at Fort Kinnaird

A PLANNING application has been submitted to add over 40,000 sq ft of new space at Fort Kinnaird retail park.

Say the owners, British Land: “Plans include a new c.19,750 sq ft food store on the ground floor, alongside a c.22,785 sq ft enhanced leisure offering on the first floor, supporting the continued growth of the destination’s leisure quarter and enhancing the overall visitor experience. Once complete, the new destinations would bring more than 60 new jobs to the local area.

“Located alongside Fort Kinnaird’s established leisure and food offering, including ODEON cinema, Wagamama and Nando’s, the plans have been devised with sustainability in mind. When designing the building services, both tenants will include air-source heat pumps and photovoltaic systems.”

The planning application (here, ref: 26/02450/FUL) says: “The application site is a brownfield gap site which has been vacant for over 18 years, following the demolition of portions of the original 1989 Craig Park retail and leisure development. The original development incorporated cinema and retail space created in 1990.”

The architects are Cooper Cromar.

The story is picked up by several media outlets, including Edinburgh Live website, here, and The Herald and Scotsman newspapers, here and here.

Budget request submitted to employ additional ‘problem landlord’ officers

SIX additional ‘enforcement officers’ could be taken on, to police ‘problem’ landlords in Edinburgh’s private rented sector.

Particularly those landlords who don’t ‘adequately’ maintain their properties.

A budget of £350,000 is being sought, to employ the six new officers, to be considered by a meeting on Tuesday of the council’s Finance and Resources committee (here, agenda item 8.7).

Read the papers to be considered by the committee members, here.

They say: “The council has a duty to regulate the private rented sector, ensuring that all properties meet the required standards and that licence holders and landlords are fit and proper. Failure to meet the duty to regulate the sector may result in poor healthand wellbeing outcomes for tenants, and result in reputational damage to the council.”

The story is picked up by ‘local democracy reporter’, Joe Sullivan (his post paid for by the BBC), here.

Scottish Government to be asked to define a ‘green’ data centre

THE Scottish Government is to be asked to define what is meant by a ‘green’ data centre after city council officials advised that councillors did not necessarily have the powers to agree a definition themselves.

Or apply a moratorium.

Wednesday’s Planning committee (here, agenda item 7.1) considered a paper (here) from officials.

But the committee decided to back a ‘tougher’ set of demands - proposed by the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens: that the Scottish Government also declares a moratorium on new data centres until an official definition is provided.

In February, members of the council’s Development Management sub-committee rejected a planning-in-principle application (here, 25/04239/PPP) for such a centre, on Redheughs Avenue, in South Gyle - as reported, here, on BuildEdinburgh.

It was felt that a Scottish Government definition will make it easier for the council to adjudicate on centre applications to it.

The story is picked up by The Herald and Edinburgh Evening News newspapers, here and here.

Apartments plan lodged for Leith-based Victorian engine shed

WHAT is being described by the applicant as a “badly-neglected Victorian engine shed” in Leith is the subject of a planning application, to turn it into four serviced apartments.

The application - here, ref: 26/02166/FULSTL - concerns a property on Ocean Drive.

The architects are Johnston-Harris Architects.

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

Fringe Society HQ unveiled

A NEW, permanent home for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been unveiled.

It follows refurbishment of a former schoolhouse on Infirmary Street.

Says the Fringe Society, here: “New features include air source heat pumps, an accessible Changing Places toilet and a new lift, all while preserving the history and aesthetic of both the building and the surrounding area.”

The story is picked up by broadcasters, STV, here.

Office-to-’apart-hotel’ conversion plan submitted

A CHANGE-of-use planning application has been submitted to convert an office block at the Pleasance into an ‘apart-hotel’, comprising 23 suites.

The application - here, ref: 26/02219/FUL - is for 181 Pleasance, opposite Carnegie Court. It has been submitted by Format Design Architectural Services.

The story is picked up by the website, Edinburgh Live, here.

Willowbrae Road gap site the subject of hotel planning application

A GAP site on Willowbrae Road is now the subject of a 82-room hotel planning application.

The application - here, ref: 26/02294/FUL - involves a site once occupied by a pub.

Writes Kevin Quinn, of the Edinburgh Evening News, here: “The site at the junction with Northfield Drive was most recently occupied by the Radical Road pub, previously the Right Wing owned by Hibs legend, Gordon Smith, but has been an empty gap site for around eight years now.”

The architects are Unum Partnership.

‘Wembley Way’ plan unveiled for Royal Highland Centre

THE Royal Highland Centre, at Ingliston, has unveiled a five-year plan that imagines the venue as a “year-round destination for events, conferences, exhibitions and live entertainment”.

Adds a media release on behalf of the centre, which is owned by the Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland: “Beyond the initial five-year strategy, the longer-term ambitions for the site include the creation of a new boulevard connecting the venue to Edinburgh's tram network, alongside the potential for restaurants, bars, cafés, retail developments and hotels that are already in development, that would help transform the area into a thriving destination in west Edinburgh.”

In the media - for instance, here - the boulevard is being described as being a version of the ‘Wembley Way’.

Obituary published of ‘saviour’ of Edinburgh’s built heritage

AN obituary has been published for Oliver Barratt, remembered for his role in protecting Edinburgh’s historic built environment through the local heritage body, The Cockburn Association.

Said The Scotsman newspaper last week, here: “He fought to protect the historic fabric of the city during a period when the value of historic buildings, architecture and the people who lived and worked in them were not as appreciated as they are today.”

Barratt was the secretary of The Cockburn Association between 1971 and 1992.

He died in April and The Cockburn Association almost immediately published its own tribute, here.

Water of Leith: challenges and celebrations

SEWAGE discharges and tensions between different types of users - such as cyclists and walkers - are among the challenges facing the Water of Leith at Balerno, Currie and Juniper Green, according to its local MP.

Dr Scott Arthur hosted a meeting, seeking views about the Water of Leith, which also recognised the many benefits of the river, including mental health ones.

As reported, here, on Dr Arthur’s website.

After Holyrood, has Scottish architecture lost its verve?

THE questions being asked of the Scottish Parliament are: (1) whether it has “strengthened a culture of design that prioritises long-term value”, and (2) whether its “legacy has encouraged more cautious approaches to procurement, cost and risk”.

Find out more at this year’s Festival of Politics, on August 28, in Edinburgh.

Here.

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