Council proposals for new housing on the former Powderhall waste-transfer site at 165 Broughton Rd have temporarily stalled.
Two key applications have been withdrawn.
Two blocks
The first, by Cruden Building on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council, sought planning permission in principle for 125 flats in 2 blocks to the north and west of the site (24/01570/PPP). These are outlined in red below.
The application was validated on 29 March and withdrawn on 16 December.
As first reported in Issue 339 (p.2), the Council’s initial intention was to gain PPP and then offer the site for development by the private market.
Three blocks
The second, seeking full planning permission, concerned 3 blocks to the east and south of the site (24/01569/FUL). It was to provide 106 flats and townhouses with associated roads, parking and greenspace. We first summarised the proposal HERE.
The application for that was validated on 29 March, with a determination initially expected in late July. However, it was withdrawn on 18 December.
The original Design and Access Statement outlined a total of 107 new homes comprising 4 townhouses and 103 flats. These were to include a mix of tenures, including social rent, mid-market rent and wheelchair-accessible flats for the City of Edinburgh Council.
However, the detailed breakdown of that mix, to be provided in an Accommodation Schedule, does not seem to have been included in the documents submitted in support of the application. Certainly, they are not obvious online.
Spurtle approached the Council in late December for a full explanation of both withdrawals and received the following prompt responses yesterday:
'The planning applications were withdrawn as further work is needed on the design to meet the required density for the site at 165 Broughton Road.
'Next steps will be reviewed by the project team in January, further information will be available then.'
At this point, it's not clear to us whether the proposals were too dense or too diffuse.
Bowling greens
In a related issue, Spurtle has also asked the Council for clarification of progress on its tender report regarding the older people’s housing/early-years centre proposal on the adjacent former site of the bowling greens (21/00381/FUL).
Although planning permission for this was granted in November 2021, the Council has until recently been seeking to verify whether it is financially viable (Issue 344, p.1).
The document that would establish that was scheduled for completion last month. We’ve asked to see it. The Council initially signalled work would begin on-site here in October, but we find no evidence of it.
An enquiry to the Council elicited the following response: 'The tender for the site relating to 21/00381/FUL is due in January.'
Hmm.
