NEXT STAGE FOR SHRUB PLACE PLANS

Proposals for redevelopment of the site west of Shrub Place have now entered the Planning process.

EMA Architecture and Design – acting on behalf of Frasers Hamilton (Shrubhill) Ltd, which is in administration – applied for planning consent on 4 April. You can find all the drawings and background papers by following this link to the Council's planning portal (Ref. 13/01070/FUL). The design statement appears as two pdfs at the foot of this page.

The proposal is for 160 new homes (some 'flatted', some terraced, some Colony-style) of which 25 per cent would be classified as 'affordable'. 

As reported last month (Issue 216), EMA carried out pre-application consultation earlier in the year with members of the public and the Urban Design Panel. The architects now report broad approval of the plan among the 80+ people who have commented on it.

They say the latest plans accommodate most local concerns and aspirations, but on two issues they have decided to stand their ground:

• Some locals want to retain the existing wall on the site's north-east boundary. EMA say the wall is unstable and supported by unsightly steel stanchions. They want instead to replace it with a lower, 2m-high wall which would respect the historic boundary and maintain privacy for neighbours.
• Some locals want to restrict or block secondary access to the site via the bridge on Dryden Terrace. EMA say 'permeability' of the site at both ends is crucial to ithe future success of the urban realm and integration of its inhabitants into the wider community.

Detailed plans for the two listed buildings on Dryden Street – not included in the earlier pre-application consultation – are now available for the first time. The structures – built in 1893 and used originally for cable-winding and tram workshops – would house 28 one and two-bedroom flats. The functional platforms which once hung inside from the roof are reflected in the proposed design by the 'linear form of the floor plate and the deck access arrangement to the dwellings'.

Spurtle has not yet gone through the planning application and supporting statements with a fine-tooth comb. (Submitted plans often do differ from the pre-application designs which preceded them; and we are anxious to establish that any spaces intended for commercial leasing on Leith Walk will not be of a size which makes them attractive to more supermarkets.) Doubtless, others – better qualified – are checking already, including members of the Leith Central Community Council which meets next on 22 April at 7pm in McDonald Road Library.

What do you think of the proposals. Let us know by email: spurtle@hotmail.co.uk Twitter: @theSpurtle  Facebook: Broughton Spurtle

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Reaction on Twitter

@theSpurtle annoyed at the applicant's response re: retention of the existing walls - demo + 2m replacement was NOT on the pre-app exhibit

 

 papa was a rodeo ‏@papawasarodeo  

@scottishchris@thespurtle have you got a good viable way of using the wall? 

 Broughton Spurtle ‏@theSpurtle

@scottishchris Please explain what exactly it is it about existing wall that locals are so keen to retain? Privacy? Barrier? #ShrubPlace

 Chris Gray ‏@scottishchris

@theSpurtle there are plenty of ways to replace the steel stanchions in a sympathetic way that would retain structural integrity of the wall

1. Chris Gray ‏@scottishchris

   @theSpurtle primarily concerns with security and overlooking. Aside from losing a key element of historic character just because of cost! 

   
   

    

    Chris Gray ‏@scottishchris4m

    

   @papawasarodeo @theSpurtle (as an aside I wrote in support of what I saw at the pre-app exhibit. I would not have supported demolition)

    

    

1. Chris Gray ‏@scottishchris4m

   @papawasarodeo @theSpurtle it is 'used' already as a boundary which creates a distinctive visual element behind the colonies.

1. papa was a rodeo ‏@papawasarodeo6m

   @scottishchris @thespurtle but the proposals are to make it marketable not necessarily developable so the wall will no doubt be here a while

    

    Broughton Spurtle ‏@theSpurtle1m

   @scottishchris @papawasarodeo Not sure I understand the marketable/developable distinction. Can you clarify?

    

   1. 
      papa was a rodeo ‏@papawasarodeo59s

      @theSpurtle the site is being sold by the bank and the application is part of the marketing. Lower densities more appealing right now

       

       papa was a rodeo ‏@papawasarodeo37s

      @theSpurtle purchasing developer *could* rip it up and start again.

       

       Chris Gray ‏@scottishchris2m

      @theSpurtle @papawasarodeo the assumed retention of the walls will currently be an 'abnormal' cost. Remove that and it is more sellable

       

       Broughton Spurtle ‏@theSpurtlenow

      @scottishchris @papawasarodeo OK. Which links back to Leith Central Community Council scepticism in Issue 216: http://bit.ly/ciyM6M 

       

       Chris Gray ‏@scottishchris2m

      @theSpurtle @papawasarodeo yup

2. papa was a rodeo ‏@papawasarodeo7m

   @scottishchris @thespurtle I don't live in the Pilrig Colonies but if I did, I'd want the southern light.

 @papawasarodeo@theSpurtle I doubt there'd be much additional S light - proposed buildings take advantage of existing wall overshadowing