In this first Old Edinburgh Club talk in a physical venue since early 2020 Prof Roger Jeffery will discuss “India in Edinburgh in the long 19th century.” Formerly Professor of Sociology of South Asia at the University of Edinburgh (from 1997-2020) Prof Jeffery was also a co-founder of of the University’s Centre for South Asia Studies and is Associate Director …
The Edinburgh Association of Community Councils aims to provide support, advice and give a collective voice for community councils when facing the challenges community councillors encounter on an almost daily basis. All of Edinburgh’s Community Councils are invited to send a representative to the Association’s regular meetings. Booking information and other details can be found at the link below.
The Edinburgh Association of Community Councils aims to provide support, advice and give a collective voice for community councils when facing the challenges community councillors encounter on an almost daily basis. All of Edinburgh’s Community Councils are invited to send a representative to the Association’s regular meetings. Booking information and other details can be found at the link below.
The Edinburgh Association of Community Councils aims to provide support, advice and give a collective voice for community councils when facing the challenges community councillors encounter on an almost daily basis. All of Edinburgh’s Community Councils are invited to send a representative to the Association’s regular meetings. Booking information and other details can be found at the link below.
Our submitted objection to the proposed housing development on Edinburgh’s Green Belt at Cammo
Our submitted objection to the proposed housing development on Edinburgh’s Green Belt at Cammo
The Cockburn OBJECTS to this application for planning permission in principle to build on this 59-acre site west of Maybury Road and north of Craigs Road.
The area is currently designated as greenbelt in Edinburgh City Council’s local development plan, which places strict constraints on what can and cannot be built on greenbelt land. Any argument drawn from the increasing historical and outdated 2008 Edinburgh Green Belt Study that this specific site is “of low intrinsic scenic quality”, and so should be considered for development, should be rejected.
The 2008 Edinburgh Green Belt Study is increasing irrelevant to the lived reality of life for many residents in this congested part of the city where a number of significant housing consents have been granted in recent years against the expressed wishes of local residents who value the retention of existing greenbelt provision in the immediate vicinity of their existing residential development and its associated infrastructure.
The proposed inclusion of 50% of affordable homes, trees and parkland should not be accepted as justification for the loss of existing greenbelt and greenspace which has become increasingly valued during the current Covid-19 pandemic. There is a particular demand in Edinburgh for social housing, but it is unclear in the planning in principle application what percentage of the proposed affordable home will be available for social rent.
Policy Env 10 (Development in the green belt and countryside) of the local development plan sets out those circumstances where development would be permitted in the green belt. The application clearly does not meet any of the criteria listed under this policy.
Non-statutory guidance on “Development in the countryside and green belt” (February 2019) provides more detailed guidance on where other development in the green belt would be acceptable. This makes clear that while new development, consistent with Policy Env 10, can bring several benefits assisting farm diversification, supporting the local economy and making beneficial use of an existing resource.
None of these justifications are relevant to this applications. But the guidance also affirms that the countryside and green belt need to be protected from unacceptable development which would weaken from the rural character and landscape quality of an area.
The Cockburn welcomes the news that the Old Royal High School will be leased to the Royal High School Preservation Trust to become a music school
The Cockburn welcomes the news that the Old Royal High School will be leased to the Royal High School Preservation Trust to become a music school
Edinburgh Living Streets are hosting a free online public summit which will bring together community representatives, campaigners, councillors and government to look at how speeding on the city’s streets can be reduced. The aim is to make ‘Vision Zero’ – zero deaths and serious injuries – a practical reality for Edinburgh, not just a theoretical commitment. Speakers will include Lesley …
Our response to the Scottish Parliamentary Committee examining pending legislation on the regulation of short-term lets
Our response to the Scottish Parliamentary Committee examining pending legislation on the regulation of short-term lets
Q) How would you describe your view of the proposed licensing system for short-term lets?
Cockburn Answer: Strongly support
Q) Why do you think this? (please tick all that apply)
Cockburn Answer
Q) Other reason(s) please specify in the box below
Cockburn Answer:
Q) Thinking about your response above, how do you think the proposed licensing system could be improved? Please set out how you think the system could be improved in the box below:
Cockburn Answer:
The key issue missing from the licensing system is the need for effective enforcement.
Firstly, in areas of over-provision such as Edinburgh, there is an urgent need for increased enforcement against unauthorised STL, especially whole-property STLs.
Secondly, the licensing system needs to ensure public confidence that non-compliance will be addressed swiftly and consistently. There are many circumstances where a STL landlord has ignored requests from the local authority to stop trading.
Thirdly, a Licensing system could make other actions such as compliance with tax laws easier as it simplifies data management and data sharing.
Q) Anything else? Is there anything else about the proposed licensing system, or its potential impact, that you would like to mention to the Committee. It would be helpful if you could keep any comments brief and provide evidence to support any claims made. Please set out any further comments in the box below:
Cockburn Answer:
In the City of Edinburgh, the issue isn’t what is coming but what has happened already. The current regulatory and enforcement regime is not fit for purpose. Many individuals and communities suffer from the expansion of STLs in their common stairs and neighbourhoods. The scale of the problem is so great that a substantial proportion of housing in central areas (and across the city too) has been given over to commercial short-term letting resulting in the depopulation of parts of the city.
We appreciate that those businesses and individuals who has operated STL may feel aggrieved but the proposed licensing system. However, their businesses seldom recognise the impact that they are having on individuals and on communities collectively. We accept that many STL businesses have operated for some time and that many have done so responsibly.
It is the total impact that needs to be addressed and we believe that the proposed licensing system will go some ways to dealing with it.
Our submission to planning on this significant development at Tynecastle.
Our submission to planning on this significant development at Tynecastle.
This is a significant, well-connected yet potentially challenging site in relation to its location next to a distillery, stadium, and the Western Approach Road. In particular, the proximity of the distillery and road raises substantial design questions regarding the site’s environmental quality, safety and amenity for future residents. However, the successful redevelopment of this site would bring it back into active use and contribute to the neighbouring community.
Given that this is not a straightforward site to develop, we understand why its repurposing as student accommodation is considered both a viable and desirable option. If this application is approved, it should be considered the upper limit of what the local residential area can tolerate without seriously undermining its social fabric and cohesion. No further student accommodation proposals should be considered in this community.
If the application is approved. This should not be developed, in any sense, as a gated community. Residents from the surrounding community should be able to access new open space/ greenspace recreational opportunities proposed the site. The access to green and open spaces is seen as a priority by many as part of the ongoing recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic. The potential engagement of the charities LOVE Gorgie Farm and People Know as operators for community garden and community facilities on the site, should planning permission be granted, is a positive step in this regard.
Although we welcome the retention of the B listed main school building and janitor’s house. We do not accept the assessment used to justify the demolition of the workshop block, which pre-dates the school and is of some historic significance and crucial to understanding the site. These would seem to be ideal for repurposing as community facilities, on-site shops, bikes stores, storage areas or a wide variety of other utility functions associated with the proposed student development.
We are aware of the local community’s interest in the potential of the site for social, multigenerational and co-housing development and of its concern regarding the potential over provision of student accommodation in this community and of the potential dis-benefits associated with this. If this development represents over provision of student accommodation in this community, then the opportunity to provide a mix of uses, including business and community use, which could assist with integrating the site into the community should be reassessed in consultation with the local community.
After a century and a half of discussion, planning and apparently endless piecemeal strategies about environmental ambitions the current climate emergency demands immediate achievable actions. This latest one-day FREE online Cockburn Conference on Saturday 30 October will discuss some of the many well-intended environmental and sustainability schemes, policy documents and political initiatives that have been produced over the last few decades …
