{"id":795124,"date":"2026-02-28T16:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T16:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/795124\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T16:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T16:47:13","slug":"council-housing-block-to-go-ahead-despite-edinburgh-locals-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/795124\/","title":{"rendered":"Council\u00a0housing block to go ahead despite\u00a0Edinburgh\u00a0locals\u2019 complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"

PLANS<\/a>\u00a0have been approved to construct a block of 49\u00a0affordable<\/a>\u00a0and social rent\u00a0flats on a disused greenspace on the outskirts of Edinburgh\u00a0despite\u00a0complaints\u00a0by locals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A playpark in the 0.81ha area between\u00a0Burdiehouse\u00a0Street and\u00a0Burdiehouse\u00a0Crescent\u00a0in\u00a0Burdiehouse, along with other buildings, was demolished years ago, leaving the site vacant.<\/p>\n

The City of Edinburgh Counci<\/a>l have now decided to develop this greenspace into a collection of\u00a0council housing<\/a>\u00a0blocks, providing affordable and social rent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some locals have complained that this\u00a0represents\u00a0the loss of a vital greenspace, leaving children with\u00a0\u201cnowhere to play\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others\u00a0commented that\u00a0the\u00a0council housing\u00a0blocks\u00a0will add increased parking strain on the already busy and \u201ctight\u201d streets and the block, when constructed, will obstruct the view\u00a0of the neighbouring forest and greenspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The view from Burdiehouse Crescent in mockups from planners (C) Smith Scott Mullan Associates<\/p>\n

Planners, however, claim that the development is\u00a0essential\u00a0for addressing the city\u2019s housing emergency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith Scott Mullan Associates, who\u00a0submitted\u00a0the plans on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, however, say that development of 49 homes for social and mid-market rent will\u00a0\u201cprovide much needed homes\u201d in Edinburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The block will consist entirely of affordable houses, with most of these available for subsidised social rent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plans were first\u00a0submitted\u00a0in February last year, and have undergone a marathon planning process, only just being approved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During this time, locals were consulted on the\u00a0project\u00a0and\u00a0many\u00a0expressed their\u00a0disapproval\u00a0of the development and he loss of greenspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior\u00a0to the approval of the plans, one local, who lives on\u00a0Burdiehouse\u00a0Street, directly\u00a0adjacent to\u00a0the proposed development, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will have a detrimental effect to the surrounding area with lack of parking and more stress put on the very tight streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso taking a way a very well used green space for children playing to people walking dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, if this\u00a0was\u00a0to go ahead it would have a detrimental effect with the building works with\u00a0workmen\u00a0lorries and other related equipment being stored and\u00a0operated\u00a0in\u00a0a very small\u00a0area.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another opined that \u201cNobody in the area wants new houses built on this land\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another, living on the nearby\u00a0Southhouse\u00a0Crescent, said that she is not \u201coutright opposed\u201d to the development, but that she would like to be reassured that \u201cthe importance of the green space around this area is being taken into account\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>An aerial view of the development, showing a total of five blocks, the tallest being four storeys high (C) Smith Scott Mullan Associates<\/p>\n

City planners\u00a0are now\u00a0satisfied that these complaints have been addressed, and that the development now\u00a0contains\u00a0suitable provision for an open green space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the half circle between the crescent and\u00a0Burdiehouse\u00a0Street, a public amenity greenspace will now be developed, with associated car and cycle parking, as well as public footpaths and cycle paths.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five blocks of flats will surround this greenspace, with paths running in between the blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council planners stipulated that public access to this space must be\u00a0maintained\u00a0once construction is complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a summary of the application, planners said: \u201cThe residential development as presented within this document meets the current Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council planning standards and guidance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development is for a total of 49 homes, with a mix of\u00a01, 2 & 3 bedroom\u00a0flats, and\u00a03 bedroom\u00a0houses formed around a new central park creating usable open space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis development allows for wider community benefits and connections to both new and existing residents with access provided through the development connecting into the existing footpath network.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of which helps to tie the development into its surroundings\u00a0As\u00a0referenced at the start of this statement, City of Edinburgh Council has declared a housing emergency and this development aims to provide some\u00a0much needed\u00a0affordable homes for\u00a0local residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe designs are in keeping with the existing neighbourhood to allow this new site to both knit into and enhance the local community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The view from the proposed central park in mockups from planners (C) Smith Scott Mullan Associates<\/p>\n

In their decision notice, city planners said the development will still result in the loss of some of the greenspace on the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They say that this loss is outweighed by the extra housing that the block will provide for the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The City of Edinburgh Council has been approached for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PLANS\u00a0have been approved to construct a block of 49\u00a0affordable\u00a0and social rent\u00a0flats on a disused greenspace on the outskirts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,37802,4884,12717,11744,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-795124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-edinburgh-council","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-planning","13":"tag-planning-applications","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116149279993350886","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}