Edinburgh planning: Plans lodged for new student accommodation block in Longstone with 17 rooms
Plans have been lodged to build a new three and a half storey student accommodation block with 17 rooms at a vacant Edinburgh site.
The proposals for the vacant plot at Inglis Green Gait in the Longstone area, previously consented for residential use, were submitted to the council’s planning department on February 17 by agent Studio DuB, on behalf of the land owner Mr J O'Rourke.
The development compromises the erection of a single residential student accommodation building with 17 student rooms and a footpath connecting to the east hard-standing area outside the boundary.
Commenting in the online planning documents about the latest proposals, for a site that has previously seen similar plans rejected, Studio DuB said: “Our client is keen to substantively retain the look and feel of the original proposals but has asked us to re-purpose the use towards student accommodation, given the proximity to the Napier University campus now with a ‘non-combustible clay panel’ cladding in lieu of the original submission.
“The proposed subjects have a right of access across the strip of land between no’s 1 & 1a Inglis Green Gait which maximises the garden ground amenity of the plot proposals.
“Each unit is is provided with its own kitchen and bathroom facilities and range in size from the smallest 18m2 to the largest 22m2. Covered / secure cycle parking is provided for each unit proposed.”
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The council previously rejected plans submitted in February 2022 for student accommodation on this site, due to “an adverse impact on canopies and roots of the trees to be retained on site and because there is no arboricultural reason justifying the loss of trees”.
Nineteen individual trees would be removed directly as a result of this latest proposal. Three are recommended for removal regardless of the determination. However, with consideration to the site and surroundings, 26 trees would be retained.
A landscape statement by VLM Landscape Design backed the latest plans for 1a Inglis Green Gait.
It said: “Overall, it is assessed that the site is appropriate for development and can readily absorb the scale, height and massing of the proposed student accommodation building.
“The retention and enhancement of the existing wooded resource as far as practicable and the introduction of a comprehensive planting strategy including numerous site-wide landscape and biodiversity features will complement and augment the existing wooded setting, and will ultimately lead to a unique, high quality student living development, set within an enhanced managed woodland setting.”
The development site total area is 539m², with an impermeable area of 32m². The site slopes steadily towards the north-east of the site, with a railway track and the Union Canal to the south east.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s planning department will now decide whether or not to approve these plans, which have so far received no notes of support or objections on the online planning portal.