Good Neighbours?

Well, this is interesting. On Friday 16th April, the deadline (coincidentally, no doubt) for private individuals to comment on the Slateford Road development, AMA deposited over a dozen large containers on the site. As you can see from the photographs below, they are piled up against the wall of the Violet Terrace garden, and several have been put on top in a second row. The upper row ones are at the entrance end so that they over-bear the Violet Terrace garden; indeed the closest ones are only about 5 metres from the windows of 1/12 Violet Terrace. Amazingly, a couple on the top are arranged at a 90 degree angle from the others so that they dominate the garden for their full length rather than partially, although looking at the large area of the yard (see picture 2), it seems unnecessary to have a top layer at all.

New view across Violet Terrace garden, now that AMA have put all the containers up against our garden wall.

They didn't really need to do that, did they?

So, we have this particular behaviour on this particular day... inconsiderate neighbours, or are AMA sending us a message?

"We are the powerful development company, and you are the little people in the little cottages, so we can do what we like..."

A huge thank you to the Craft Shop and St Michael's Church

We would like to say a huge thank you to staff and customers of the Craft Shop (http://www.edincraft.co.uk/) and the parishioners of St Michael's Parish Church (http://www.stmichaels-kirk.co.uk/) who together wrote at least 80 letters of objections which were submitted today.

Thank you very much for your support!!!!!!!!!

Objection letters submitted by e-mail to David Shepherd

If you submitted your objection letter to David Shepherd by e-mail you will have received an automated out of office reply stating that he no longer works for the council and that e-mails should be resend to Deborah Peterson. As can be seen from the reply given below all e-mails received by on David Shepherd's account will be read and objection letters will be taken into consideration

Dear Mr Bierley

Thank you for your email. I can assure you that whilst Mr Shepherd no longer works for this authority I am checking his email account several times a day and any objection comments received on the Slateford Road application are being processed as normal. I have deliberately not suspended the email account until the time period for objections on this application has expired.

An automatic email response is sent from Mr Shepherds account advising them to redirect their email. If they do not do this their emails will be picked up from the account.

There are a number of large schemes currently open for comment and we are receiving large volumes of representations, this may result in a slight delay to acknowledgment of letters.

I trust that this answers your questions.

Regards

Elaine

Elaine Robertson l Principal Planner |Major Developments Central I City Development| The City of Edinburgh Council | Waverley Court, Level G:2, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG | Tel 0131 529 3612 e.robertson@edinburgh.gov.uk | www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Scotland's Housing Expo: Inverness, 1-31 August

This exhibition might be well worth a field trip:

Scotland's Housing Expo – Inverness August 2010

The Highlands of Scotland is home to Scotland’s Housing Expo for the entire month of August 2010. The first ever Housing Expo in Scotland will showcase over 50 architect designed houses, set in four unique zones, featuring innovative construction and cutting edge sustainable systems plus the very latest in product design, landscaping and interiors.

Affordability and low running costs are a main part of the design brief.

The future of housing

Scotland’s Housing Expo will showcase the very latest thinking in sustainability and materials for the consumer and bring together cutting edge ideas and innovations for the building industry and design professionals. If you are interested in any aspect of house design: architecture, sustainability, interior design, planning, landscape design or simply want the latest ideas or inspiration for your home, then Scotland’s Housing Expo is unmissable.

The legacy will be a living, breathing village

This will be no fantasy design feature. The UK’s top architects have designed and created 55 unique houses, developers will build these houses to a high specification. The houses will be available for sale or rent after the event leaving a living, breathing, contemporary village over five hectares at Balvonie Braes, south of Inverness, just off the A9.

For more info see http://www.scotlandshousingexpo.com/

Sample letter of objection

Please feel free to use all or parts of this sample letter of objection to send to David Shepherd. Remember you can also e-mail your letter to david.shepherd@edinburgh.gov.uk. Your letter of objection has to be submitted by Friday, April 16th!

From: add your name
and address

To: David Shepherd
Business Centre G2
Planning
City of Edinburgh Council
Waverley Court
4 East Market Street
EDINBURGH
EH8 8BG

April 2010

Dear Mr Shepherd,

I am writing to make objections to the revised version of planning application 09/01873/FUL for 1 Slateford Road, Edinburgh. Please note that any previous objections I have made have not been taken account of in the revision, and therefore all my original objections still apply to the revised version. My objections to the revised application are as follows:

Context and Height – The proposed buildings make no attempt to integrate with the surrounding dominant architecture which is Victorian ‘colonies’ terraced houses. The proposed high rise flats of 5 storeys with a flat roof are much too high when compared to the colony houses of 2 storeys (with a third attic storey in their pitched roofs). At one end of Primrose Terrace, the development is higher than nearby tenements on Slateford Road thus towering over the existing colonies on Primrose Terrace. This height difference will cause over-shadowing and loss of light and privacy to existing area residents.

Materials and building design – The proposed building materials are also entirely inappropriate and insensitive to the historic surroundings. The surrounding buildings are all built of Victorian stone with pitched slate roofs. The development is steel-framed, flat-roofed and built of glass, multi-coloured brick, reconstituted stone and concrete with wood cladding. In addition, the overall structure, shape and form of the proposed buildings’ features, e.g. windows and roofs, are not sympathetic to the local architectural styles.

Density and effect on existing community – The development does not comply with the Council’s Policy Hou 4 on Density (Chpt 6, City Local Plan). The density of proposed dwellings is far too high for the existing area and there are excessive numbers of a particular type of resident (students) who are transient in nature. Thus the development will not support a varied community and will drastically affect the social makeup of the Flower Colonies ‘urban village’. There has not been a proper assessment of the impact of this student housing on the locality as in para 6.38 of the City Local Plan; ‘In assessing the degree of concentration of student accommodation the Council will take into account the nature of the locality in terms of mix of land use and housing types, the existing and proposed number of students in the locality and evidence of problems in rapid population turnover and less stable communities...’

The proposed student buildings on Primrose Terrace are largely 5-7 bedroom dwellings, and so would contain a much higher number of residents than existing colonies ‘cottage flats’. This would greatly reduce the amenity of the Colonies’ quiet streets with its existing very low numbers of pedestrians and vehicles. The massive increase in students living on the terrace is also likely to lead to unacceptable levels of both noise and light pollution. The revised plan moves the main pedestrian entrance more centrally into the terrace which will cause further noise disturbance for existing residents.

Open space – following revisions, it still seems unlikely that there is sufficient open space in the development for 104 dwellings (as defined in Policy Hou 3 and Chapter 6 of the Council’s new City Local Plan). ‘The provision of well-designed and integrated landscaped areas is crucial to the success of higher density, flatted schemes in particular and in making these attractive to a wide cross-section of the public.’ (Para 6.15, City Local Plan).

Vehicle parking – the development removes existing car parking amenities from Primrose, Laurel and Violet Terraces. Parking within the development is insufficient (and has actually been reduced in the revised plans) which will result in further pressure on existing limited numbers of car parking spaces in Shandon. The revised plans have replaced the vennel at the end of the student block through to the development with a new unit. This means that the visitor parking provided on Primrose Terrace can only be accessed directly by the students. Additionally, it is not clear from the revised plans whether there is sufficient bicycle parking which would be required, particularly by the 40 student flats.

Transport – The only vehicle access for the development is inappropriate as it is based on taking away the private mews lane belonging to Laurel and Violet Terraces (which does not belong to the Council) and, in any case, it is too narrow. It would create road safety dangers for existing residents and also for vehicles and pedestrians on Slateford Road.

There is no traffic assessment for the new development (as required in para 9.7 of the City Local Plan) - particularly for the vastly increased vehicle usage created both by new residents and the commercial unit when entering and exiting in relation to Slateford Road. There is no transport assessment of the needs of the students to travel to the nearest universities (Napier and Heriot Watt) which are a substantial distance away.

Waste disposal – the revised application shows reduced and insufficient space for waste. There is only one bin space for 104 dwellings with a possible extra space of unknown dimensions underground. There is no mention of recycling facilities for the increase in population.

Consultation – minimal and inadequate effort has been made by the developers to consult with the local community. Residents were not notified regarding the student residences at the consultation stage. The inclusion of the student accommodation block is integral to this application as it defines so many requirements of the development, most notably the quota of affordable housing and parking. To have omitted it from the public consultation shows how derisory the actual consultation process was. The City of Edinburgh Council’s new Local Plan highlights the importance of holding a meaningful consultation process from an early stage but this has been ignored for this development. ‘Proposals should emerge from a design process that includes an appraisal of the local context and of public views and aspirations.’ (Para 3.6, City Local Plan).

In summary, the development is a gross overdevelopment of a relatively small site, in an architectural style and manner completely inappropriate to its surroundings, and with insufficient account taken of important considerations such as transport issues.

Sincerely, yours

Have a look at the original objection letter from the Flower Colonies Resident Association

Click on the link below to access the objection letter against the original planning application to remind yourself what it is all about:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/29929425?secret_password=25y0z4vrycph2cy0upra

Have your say by April 16th!

Dear Neighbours and other Friends of the Flower Colonies,

Please make your voice heard!

The developers who plan to build 104 units on the area at 1 Slateford Road (between Violet, Laurel & Primrose Terraces and behind Harrison Gardens) have resubmitted their plans to the City of Edinburgh Council Planning Department. The changes they have made to their first application are minimal and take little or no account of the community's views. No attempt has been made to consult with the neighbourhood about the impact this development might have on our existing amenities or way of life, which directly goes against new local planning guidelines.

On Friday 16th April the window of opportunity to make your voice heard will be closed. The planning department has assured us that any objections the community has made to the original planning application will be taken into account. However, we strongly believe that it is vital to make further comments on the 'material considerations' that the Council's planning department must consider when awarding or rejecting planning proposals. Even if you have previously written, we urge you to do so again with new points and please state that any previous objections you have made still apply for the revised application.

If it helps, please feel free to use the sample letter above to send to the planning department – you just need to include your own name and address, and indicate which issues you feel strongly about. There is space to write your own individual views as well under each point. Remember to sign it from yourself at the end. The planning department have to consider ALL objections and will take notice of the quantity received. If you haven’t been able to decipher the changes made to the revised plans they can be summarised as follows:

• Alterations to the site entrance: the re-submitted design has reduced the plan size and height of the commercial unit/Block D, principally to widen Violet/Laurel Terrace. To achieve this they will be demolishing a boundary wall and taking over a private road, neither of which wholly belong to them. We believe that they have inadequate access for the volume of traffic that this road will service, poor lines of sight for safe departure from site and unsafe pedestrian access.
• Alterations to the Student Block: principally they have in-filled the vennel/access through to the development from Primrose Terrace with another flat and also increased the plan area at the corner of the block facing the cycle track. This is because they have lost units from the reduced commercial unit and they are trying to maintain the maximum number of units on site. However, this now means that all access will be from the Violet/Laurel Terrace side and only the students can directly access Primrose Terrace parking. Additionally the main entrance to the student block has moved further down the street, from No 16-18 to No 12, further disturbing the Primrose Terrace residents.
• Revised landscaping: changes have been made because emergency services and waste collection services expressed concerns of access with the original plans. However the new plans have now removed one car space at ground level, only show one bin space which is not adequate for a development of this size, and do not indicate the space required for bicycle storage. We also do not believe that they have achieved the provision of 20% of open (usable) space that the 'local plan' requires of all new developments.
  

In the first round of letters responding to the application, many people made objections to the excessive density of the development, use of materials and building design inappropriate to the area, the height of the buildings, car parking and traffic problems and the lack of consultation with the community. All of these objections have been ignored by the developers. If you haven't seen the plans you'll find a link to the City of Edinburgh Council's planning standards portal as well as images of the proposed development below. For more background please see our website www.flowercolonies.org.uk. We'll be posting more information over the next few weeks as it becomes available – but in the meantime, please write or email your objections to

David Shepherd
City of Edinburgh Council
Waverley Court
4 East Market Street
Edinburgh EH8 8BG
David.Shepherd@edinburgh.gov.uk

Remember, this has to be in by Friday 16th April to make a difference.

If you have any queries that you think we might be able to help with, or if you would like to see the letter of objections to the original plans submitted by the FCARA committee, please email us at fcara@hotmail.co.uk

One final point: any letters or emails you send to the planning department on this matter should clearly state the reference 09/01873/FUL.

Many thanks - Kate Thompson, Chair, FCARA Committee