Student Accomodation refused on Pitt Street - Bonnington now needs social rent housing!

The Council have refused two applications for Purpose Built Student Accomodation and Councillor Caldwell has spoke up for social-rent housing.

Following the decision of the Council to refuse planning permission to both sites, Councillor Caldwell said “These sites were approved for affordable housing many years ago. Edinburgh has declared a housing emergency and it's imperitive that the Council enable good quality housebuilding that gives amenities to existing residents too. The Scottish government must also u-turn on their real-terms cut to the Affordable Housebuilding Programme. Reinstating some of the funding they cut last year simply isn't good enough.”

Councillor Caldwell submitted the following objection to one of the sites that ultimately got refused:

Submission to Planning Portal August 2024

Regarding 24/03103/FUL

Name: Jack Caldwell

Address: Liberal Democrat Group Office

City Chambers, Edinburgh

EH1 1YJ

Status: Oppose

Category: Ward councillor

Comment:

“Heading: Inaccurate public transport travel times.

Page 12 of the Full Design Statement states the 7 and 14 buses will take you to Old Campus in 15 minutes. There is in not correct or reflective of reality. At various points I have checked this on the Lothian Buses tracker app and can only reach the conclusion that is at best a fairly disingenuous claim, with the closest timing I’ve been able to find is a 25 minute journey. This claim is further contradicted by the measurements taken on Page 14 of the same document.

A DPEA reporter within the last year observed that a nearby site is a 36-minute walk to the Holyrood campus and within 45 minutes of the Edinburgh University George Square campus. The Edinburgh College of Art, on Lauriston Place, is approximately a 50-minute walk and Napier University Merchiston campus over an hour on foot. This site is even further away than that, therefore would likely result in slightly longer walking times and distances.

This contradicts paragraph 236 of the Local Development Plan (a test of Hou8) which states proposals should be close to universities/colleges and accessible by public transport.

Heading [1]: Inaccurate listings of nearby "consented" sites.

Furthermore I believe the Design Statement is misleading as it lists the development at 14 Ashley Place as a consented development on Page 13 of the Design Statement, but it is not consented. 14 Ashley Place is also shown as a "Consented Student Scheme" on the map at Page 12 which is once again factually inaccurate and misleading. This is relevant as the most recent proposal (ref 22/06251/FUL) was rejected by the Development Management Sub-committee and subsequently the DPEA for similar grounds to the above grounds I have listed.

Heading [2]: Inaccurate reference to nearby cycle route (NCN75)

Paragraph 2.5 of the proposal's Transport Statement says that the proposed site is approximately 200m from access to NCN75 as access is being developed as part of 16/03218. To my understanding, this access will be on the west end of that site, and therefore would be closer to 300m - 400m away from this proposed site. The closest accesses to NCN75 are thus either more than 200m (or stepped access via Keddie Gardens), which is not suitable for cycling. While this may seem like a trivial point, this extra 200m is on cobbled streets and there is no Section 75 contributions proposed or offered to mitigate this as far as I’m aware.

Heading [3]: Housing on the site and the need for Affordable Housing

It is expedient to note that housing was previously approved at this site for Housing under 21/05861/FUL. This is housing which may be considered as part of the Councils Minimum All-Tenure Housing Land Requirement figures, as required by National Planning Framework 4. The MATHLR is part of NPF4 to address the social injustice of homelessness and the current Housing Emergency. Bonnington is a primarily residential area and committee have made clear in prior judgement that this site is appropriate for residential housing.

Heading [4]: Contributions to Keddie Gardens and NCN75 cyclepath

Should the Planning department / Committee see it appropriate to Grant this application, there is a strong case for two contributions which would be proportionate as they are both mentioned thoroughly on the Design Statement. Keddie Gardens is stated as the closest green space and is currently undergoing design work as part of the Council’s ‘Thriving Greenspace’ project, with funding being sourced by the Parks team. Additionally, the playpark currently only has one third of its equipment present / working. The second proportionate ask would be to improve cycle links between the proposed site and the access to NCN75 which is a material factor mentioned in the Transport statement. As mentioned above, South Fort Street and West Bowling Green Street are cobbled roads in mixed condition with no cycling infrastructure or markings present.

Heading [5]: Conclusion: the rights of students

LDP Paragraph 236 is designed to safeguard students staying in PBSA from being housed in a location that is not suitably close to an educational establishment. This is important for the mental health and wellbeing of students who are moving to be close to their place of education, or at least have fast public transport or active travel links of under 25 minutes. This site's location does not take account of this and therefore is inappropriate in my view for PBSA and better suited to affordable residential housing.”