'Inappropriate' Meadowbank flats set to be refused permission

Proposals for flats to be built on Marionville Road

Dandara has applied for permission to build the 120 flats and 10 terraced homes on the north side of Marionville Road near Meadowbank. But planners at the city council have urged councillors to reject the scheme when the development management sub-committee meets on Wednesday.

Two of the blocks are seven stories high and include 10 studio flats, 15 one-bedroom flats, 29 two-bedrooms and seven three-bedroom properties between them. A five-storey block will contain 18 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom flats - 22 of the 30 affordable homes to be provided. A six-storey block will feature five studio flats, nine one-bedroom flats, 11 two-bedroom flats and two three-bedroom flats.

Ten three-bedroom mews properties are also touted by developers.

Four blocks of flats will be built if approved by councillors

The blocks will be sited around a "podium deck". Car parking includes 49 under deck car parking spaces and 10 car port spaces for the mews properties, while 230 cycle parking spaces will be provided.

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Conservative ward Cllr John McLellan said: "The developer has worked hard to take local views on board and this is presumably why there have been so few objections from nearby residents, none at all from Marionville Road itself.

"I share the planners' concerns about the height of the proposal, but I am also confused about how the eight-storey blocks of flats at the Urban Eden development a few hundred yards down the street, which tower over adjacent low-rise homes, were acceptable and this is not."

"It would be extremely hard to explain to Marionville and Dalgety residents why seven-storey blocks are unacceptable on one side of the road but ok on the other."

In a report to councillors, officers said the proposal "represents over-development of the site".

It adds: "The height and form of the proposal will not integrate well with its surroundings, is inappropriate in its context and would adversely impact on key views.

"It will overshadow and have a detrimental impact on the neighbouring care home."