Edinburgh’s local development plan moves to next stage

The City of Edinburgh Council has agreed that its Local Development Plan should be moved on to be examined by the Reporter appointed by the Scottish Government, before the final plan is agreed.

But to help the Reporter to understand where there are opportunities to change to plan, the Planning Committee agreed a motion which details where it sees merit in the representations made.

And these changes include a reduction in housing at Builyeon Road and South Scotstoun in Queensferry.

Councillor Ian Perry, convener of the planning committee, said: ‘‘The Council needs to allocate land to allow much needed housing to be delivered for the city. While we are keen to ensure that brownfield land is developed first, it is necessary to identify some new greenfield sites in a growing city.

“It is therefore very important that the Local Development Plan is now moved to the next stage to allow the Council to guide developers on future land use. This has been a difficult decision but it is important that we move towards providing certainty for local communities and developers.“

In the SNP/Labour Coalition motion, their statement read: ‘‘It was agreed there is an urgent need to progress the LDP towards adoption to provide an up-to-date plan and housing land supply, and that this is the overriding reason for now moving the plan to the examination stage.

‘‘The outcomes of the examination are largely binding on the Council and that the examination by Scottish Ministers will determine the content of the adopted LDP.

‘‘The examination stage provides an opportunity to change the LDP. And on that basis, it is agreed that there are a number of proposals within the LDP where changes could be made as a result of representations made to the Second Proposed Plan and that these should be considered by the reporter during examination.

‘‘The Council sees merit in the representations seeking a reduction in the capacities of housing proposals at Maybury, Builyeon Road and South Scotstoun. These currently have a total capacity of 3130 units and

that a proportionate reduction in their housing capacity resulting in fewer units could be accounted for by the remaining capacity provided by the allocation of Planning Committee East of Millburn Tower.’’

East of Millburn Tower, is known as the Garden District (Gogarburn).