A Scottish Government reporter has granted planning permission for an application by S1 Developments for a new student residential development on the former Tynecastle High School site in Edinburgh.
In addition to 468 bed spaces, the original school hall will be repurposed as a “central amenity hub”, S1 Developments noted.
It said this would sit within a “collegiate-style courtyard space” and provide high-quality shared facilities for student residents.
S1 Developments said: “In his report, the reporter noted that the ‘development of the site for mainstream housing would be constrained by the presence of the listed buildings’, making student development a more viable option.”
READ MORE: Brexit: Lack of hope down to politicians as people wake up
It added: “In addition, he identified the site which is dominated by the football ground and North British Distillery, as being more suitable for students ‘who would only spend part of their year in residence’ and then only for the length of their university or college courses.
“The reporter also noted the proximity of universities and colleges to the site and that the student population in the local area, including the proposed development would be approximately 24% and therefore not lead to an overly concentrated student population in the area. “
READ MORE: Brexit: Amid red wall pandering, some common sense from Labour
The developer said landscaping proposals increase green space across the site by more than 40 per cent, helping to increase biodiversity within the local area.
READ MORE: Brexit: New twist in bizarre soap opera shows rush: Ian McConnell
It added that the development has been designed to be “highly sustainable with zero parking, 100 per cent cycle parking, the employment of low-carbon technologies and no use of fossil fuels”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here