A vacant Edinburgh factory has been recommended for demolition despite community objections earlier this year.
The City of Edinburgh’s Chief Planning Officer has recommended that 27-29 Beaverhall Road in Powderhall is demolished to make way for 205 flats as part of a planning application.
The current, 12 metre tall, red brick building in Powderhall is a former factory which currently houses creative industries and a personal training studio. Many demolition objections mentioned the historic mural on the side of the factory as well.
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“The application proposes the demolition of all existing buildings on the site, and the erection of a new mixed use development comprising of build to rent residential accommodation and commercial uses,” the sub-committee report stated.
“A total of 205 residential units are proposed of which 153 will be market rent and 52 (25 percent) are classed as affordable housing which will be pepper-potted throughout the development.”
Although traditionally an industrial area, Beaverhall is an area of change, with an increasingly residential character. The north of the area is characterised by residential development, whilst the west, south and east of the surrounding area is a mix of residential, offices and light industrial uses.
The new building will be between five and seven storey in height with a main frontage to Beaverhall Road.
There were 36 objections to the demolition and building proposals in total. However, the chief planning officer said the “material considerations do not raise any matters which would result in recommending the application for refusal. Therefore, the application should be granted.”
The objections related to the loss of existing employment and creative uses; overdevelopment of the site; loss of daylight and privacy to neighbours; the impact on road congestion; already oversubscribed health facilities and insufficient school infrastructure provisions as well as the destruction of a mural which is part of the area’s history and heritage.
Despite the objections, the chief planning officer found “no material considerations which outweigh the proposals in accordance with the Development Plan.”
The planning application was submitted to the council on behalf of Beaverhall Road LLP, a company registered under a London address.
The council’s development management sub-committee is set to make the final decision on the planning application next Wednesday (9 November).
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