The city council has been accused of failing to answer questions about the new site in Edinburgh, with one local woman saying she felt ‘unsafe’ in her own neighbourhood
The old Northfield House Hotel fell derelict before it was destroyed by fire(Image: Edinburgh Live)
Residents in an Edinburgh suburb are up in arms about a plan to house 100 single men including refugees and ex-cons at a former hotel site near a schools cluster.
The old Northfield House Hotel in Gilmerton was demolished in 2023 after the derelict building was ravaged by a series of fires. And concerns have been growing for months about the plan to build temporary accommodation.
City council officials insist the facility is not for housing migrants awaiting a decision on their asylum applications, with that process being managed by the Home Office. However, they have been vague about exactly who WILL be staying at the new accommodation.
To add fuel to the fire, the site on Lasswade Road is five minutes’ walk from Gracemount Primary School. The other schools in the neighbourhood are St Catherine’s RC Primary School, Gracemount Nursery, Kaimes Special School and Gracemount High School.
READ MORE: Channel small boat migrant numbers now bigger than Scotland’s third largest cityREAD MORE: New poll shows majority of Scots back Reform UK’s plans to arm all cops with Tasers
The city council’s original plan was to turn the building into student accommodation, although 93% of people who submitted comments for that application said they were opposed. The new proposal is that 100 self-contained flats will be used to house homeless people – most of whom will be single males.
Two public meetings were held recently, with local Labour MP Ian Murray and Labour MSP Daniel Johnson writing to the council to say that “several substantive questions” had been raised by local people “which, in our view, have not yet been fully answered”.
Artist’s impression of the new accommodation for up to 100 single men(Image: Edinburgh City Council)
One female resident said that “as a young woman” she felt “unsafe” about who might be living at the site. Another said it was not “appropriate” to build such a facility near schools.
The letter from Mr Murray and Mr Johnson asks what proportion of residents will be ex-cons recently released from prison and whether those convicted of murder, arson or sexual offences will be ineligible. It also poses questions about anti-social behaviour policies and “provision for residents not in employment during the daytime”.
The politicians go on to ask: “Given the proximity of the school on the opposite side of the road, what specific safety measures will be put in place? This was a recurring concern at both events, and a detailed response would be welcomed.”
And they accuse the local authority, which is run by a Labour minority with support from the Lib Dem and Tory groups, of “communications failures… which allowed rumours to spread and have undermined trust”.
‘It’s a deliberate policy by the SNP government’
It is understood that people who have been granted asylum will be housed there in accordance with legal obligations incumbent on every local authority in the UK. The new facility is expected to open by the end of the month. Scottish councils are having to allocate a growing proportion of their temporary accommodation to asylum seekers granted settlement after the SNP scrapped the “local connection” rule.
The rules are still in force in England, meaning some asylum seekers – once they are given settlement – are drawn to Scottish cities because councils there cannot turn them away. The situation has resulted in Glasgow having the highest proportion of asylum seekers of any local authority in the UK, and critics of the SNP warn a similar trend is now unfolding in Edinburgh.
Phil Doggart, a Tory councillor opposed to the plans, said: “There are serious concerns about housing single men in a residential area, across the road from three schools and that is a massive concern for local residents”.
He said the scrapping of the local connection rule was partly responsible for causing the list of homeless people in need of accommodation in Edinburgh – now at 5,500 – to grow. Mr Doggart said: “If we had a local connection rule, then the priority for housing homeless people would be given to those who have a connection to Edinburgh.
“It’s a deliberate policy by the SNP government and it’s mainly local authorities, particularly Edinburgh and Glasgow, who are going to have to pay the price for it.”
He added that the council’s consultation with local residents had been “abysmal”. However, the council has sought to reassure residents by pointing out that there will be a member of staff on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
An Edinburgh council spokesman said: “The new temporary accommodation centre on the former Northfield House Hotel site on Lasswade Road will be used to temporarily house people waiting for a permanent home. Everyone placed in this accommodation will be entitled to a homeless assessment in Edinburgh and have rights to access council services.”