Developers are delighted after winning decade long fight

Property developers have won a ten year fight to build housing on former army land after the Scottish Government overruled a council decision to reject the bid. Taylor Wimpey and Miller Homes will now build 75 properties on the land in Colinton.

The council chiefs had twice previously rejected the proposals, which local residents claim will lead to the small village of Colinton having its population doubled in the next few years. Plans to develop the land were first drawn up twelve years ago, prompting angry residents to start a campaign to try and raise the £50,000 they needed to buy the land from the Ministry of Defence. The campaign failed but it did not matter as the council rejected the proposal.

The developers submitted a new planning application in 2004 which was again rejected after 2,000 people objected individually. A third application was made six months ago, and when this was refused Taylor Wimpey and Miller Homes then appealed to the Scottish Government who overruled the decision and gave the go ahead to build the mix of housing which will include some social houses that will be protected by the cheapest landlord insurance. Colinton Amenity Association (CAA), who have been opposing the development from day one are very disappointed with the decision of the city council to give up after a decade of standing firm.

Ward Councillor Jason Rust said: “This is a black day for Coliton and devastating news for the local community despite their best efforts and for all the people who have objected. It seems that Scottish Government advice about appropriate land supply has outranked the council’s city development plan. This is particularly unfortunate since there seems to be no shortage of sites in practice and there is already a lot of uncertainly in relation to the Barracks sites.”