A controversial student accommodation development in the Scottish capital has been approved.
The plan that includes 230 student flats was given the green light after a narrow vote.
Manson Architects submitted the designs for CW Properties, a Scottish property company based in Edinburgh working throughout central Scotland and the North of England.
The site sits between Leith Walk and Halmyre Street at the bottom of Leith Walk.
đ´Â Save on a full year of digital access with our lowest EVER offer.
Subscribe for the whole year to The Herald for only £24 for unlimited website access or £30 for our digital pack.
This is only available for a limited time.
đ Click here to subscribe
The former tram depot is to the south and the former Capitol Theatre, now Mecca Bingo, is at the north east of the site.
Manson said in the planning statement: âThe proposal is for a mixed residential development including mainstream flats, affordable flats and purpose built student accommodation.
âThe site is currently a brownfield site with no green or useable open space.â
Amendments to the plans have included reducing the number of student beds reduced from 236 to 230, and increasing the number of affordable homes from 18 to 27, with 27 build-to-rent homes.
A report to the council stated: âThe proposal is for the redevelopment of a brownfield site, part of which is derelict and part of which contains an empty, redundant warehouse building and in its current condition detracts from the character and amenity of the area.
âThe proposed development will be a sustainable, high-density development that will optimise the use of brownfield land. The proposed use of the site will bring biodiversity gains.â
There was a flood of community objections to the proposals. Some 172 wrote to City of Edinburgh Council against the proposals with one in favour.
Save Leith Walk said that âthe proposal is out of scale,â adding: âThe proposal fails to offer small flexible business spaces."
Objector Asma Razaq said âthis is not beneficial for the communityâ while Mr Pierre Forissier said: âThe excess student beds are likely to a detrimental balance in the community.
âThe proposal is too tall and will negatively affect the Leith Walk Conservation Area.
âThe important Edinburgh Urban Design Panel has expressed strong concerns about the proposed level of student accommodation, general land use, layout, height, materials and security.â
Councillors on the development sub-committee voted six to five in favour of the plans.
Royal Bank owner reports ÂŁ20 billion fall in deposits
Â
The owner of Royal Bank of Scotland saw its share price fall sharply this morning as it reported a near-£20 billion fall in customer deposits in the first quarter.
NatWest Group booked an operating profit before tax of ÂŁ1.8bn for the quarter ended March 31, up 49 per cent on the corresponding period last year and ahead of market expectations.
Red sandstone office building renovatedâ
Â
âOne of the oldestâ red sandstone buildings in Glasgow has been returned to the forefront of the city centre office market following a major refurbishment.
Commercial property developer Highbridge Estates has completed the refurbishment of 24 St Vincent Place, a mixed-use commercial building in central Glasgow, after securing a ÂŁ2.5 million refinancing loan from Cynergy Bank.
đ Get more for free: You can now get our daily Business Briefing, Business Insight, and weekly Ian McConnell on Business and Money HQ with Ben Stark newsletters sent direct to your email inbox
đSign up in seconds here đ
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.Â
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.Â
That is invaluable.Â
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 journalistâs 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
Readersâ 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 readersâ 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 âreport this postâ 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