A groups of Edinburgh residents have hit out after discovering 80 portable cabins will be built in their quiet lane.
The proposed development will see offices, toilets and recreational space for people working on the Haymarket Gap Site.
Currently those same facilities are provided on site, but are to be moved due to 'insufficient space'.
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The proposed compound will be composed of a series of 80 two storey tall portable cabins built in a 1,705 square metre site next to people’s houses.
The 2.5 metre cabins will be stacked on top of one another and bring the total height of the builds to five metres. The developers will also construct a 2.4 metre tall fence to try and block the site from view.
Local residents have been left furious at the development that they say will be built in a quiet residential area, and risks cutting off all the ground and first floor flats from getting any light.
The residents feel the proposed plans do not reflect the description of the site and, with the site to be up for at least three years, feel trapped, unable to sell their homes at anything other than a loss.
With planning permissions granted, and no appeal process available to communities, these residents are likely going to have to live with the development despite more than 130 objections being submitted while the application went through the pre-planning stage.
In one objection, a resident details how disruptive the plans will be to their lives, saying: “Any building will have a large impact on residents but this will be even more severe if a two-storey building is approved.
“Specifically, my family and I will suffer from loss of natural light and overshadow the building, overlooking into our personal space and main living area, grossly invading our privacy.
“The proposed site is the opposite and will sit in a very narrow, partially enclosed space in the immediate proximity to residential properties and communal garden space which is regularly frequented and enjoyed by young children and families.
"The proposed site includes toilet facilities which will have no direct access to a plumbing or waste disposal system and therefore it can only be assumed that waste will be held within containers at the locus and emptied periodically.
“During winter periods there will be times whereby operation of the site will be during hours of darkness, therefore it is highly likely that the proposed site will require some form of floodlighting to ensure the health and safety of workers.
“[This] will create undue disturbance for us residents, particularly for my family and I who will suffer significant light intrusion and pollution into our home.
Residents say the proposed site is metres away from the windows of the flats. As many of the residents either work from home, are elderly or suffer from chronic illnesses, the prospect of living next to the site is causing them a lot of distress, they say.
One resident, Reka, told Edinburgh Live: “The whole point of me buying this flat was for privacy. Now as soon as I open my window all I will see is all the foot traffic.
“I understand this is a piece of land he owns but we were not aware that this would be developed further. This would affect our lives. I work from home so this would impact me, I like my peace and quiet and I just feel like this is changing the conditions of when I bought my flat.”
Brian Gorman, who is one of the first people to live in the Caley village, said: “I have a long, complicated medical history. I chose to live here, on the ground floor, in a new-build because of where it is- with good access to nearby shops and transport.
“I have a lot of difficulty getting about so I need the nearby shops, I want to look after myself for as long as I’m able and the proposed development is going to affect me quite severely.
“As I’ve just learned, they’re going to have access through here, how am I going to get out?”
“You can’t build a two-story building and not affect the surrounding area. It seems to be unnecessary for them to do it, they’ve got this huge area and given the amount of building they’re putting up, it must be possible for them to find buildings of their own to put the offices.”
Sighthill and Gorgie Councillor, Ross Mckenzie, was shocked at how quickly the application was pushed through the council and how easily the objections from local residents were dismissed.
He said: “I watched the planning committee meeting that made the decision and was shocked that 130 objections could be batted away so casually. No attempt was made to engage with the substance of the objections.
“The most frustrating thing is that residents have been so specific about the impact the development will have on them and have proposed reasonable and workable alternatives. They put a lot of thought and a lot of work into this and it is very sad that councillors could not match that effort.”
Furthermore, he said that it’s clear why Robert McAlpine want to use this site specifically, despite alternatives being proposed by local people. McKenzie said: “This site is clearly the easiest one for McAlpine to work from and they are insistent on using it. Developers have far too much power in Edinburgh - one thing I hope to see from the new council is a more robust approach in cases like these.
“Companies like McAlpine are making huge profits in the city - the very least we should be demanding is engagement with and respect for residents who are affected by their works.
“Sadly there is no right of appeal for communities, only for developers! It's up to the Scottish Government to change that, and Labour are lobbying them to do so.
“All that's left for the Caley Village residents now is to hope that McAlpine shows some decency by meeting with them to find a solution that suits both parties.”
We reached out to the developers for comment, A Qmile Group spokesperson said: “Having gone through a full formal planning process, our main contractor partner, Sir Robert McAlpine, has obtained temporary planning consent to relocate its cabins to the site.”
