Â£250m farmland village in pipeline for west of Capital

The site of the proposed new village near the Dalmahoy. Picture: contibuted

AMBITIOUS plans are being drawn up to create a brand new village on farmland to the west of Edinburgh.

More than 1200 homes, a neighbourhood centre, a primary school and new roads and infrastructure would be built at Hatton Mains, just off Dalmahoy Road and the A71.

It is thought the overall development – which is of a similar scale to the first phase of the nearby Garden District – would cost more than £250 million.

But community leaders said they had received little communication from the consultants, and knew nothing concrete about how the proposals would look.

And they criticised any move to develop on greenbelt land when other brownfield sites lie empty in the city – while pointing out the scheme is not part of the Local Development Plan (LDP), the council’s city-wide planning blueprint.

Judy Wightman, treasurer of Ratho community council, said: “We know nothing about it except that we’ve had a letter saying there is a proposal of application notice.

“We know absolutely nothing and we have had no consultation.

“At the moment we have just so many developments in the area. It’s really quite scary. There are so many brownfield sites they can develop in Edinburgh.

“Why do they have to develop on [the] green belt? It’s green belt, and it’s not included in the emergent LDP.”

Ken Shade, planning spokesman for Balerno community council, also raised fears over the “knock-on effect” on traffic.

Clarendon said it was working with the landowner at Hatton Mains to “investigate the potential for a new village that could create a high-quality residential environment” and “form a standalone solution to contribute to the city’s housing requirements in the short and medium term”.

Last week, we told how a number of controversial plans for new housing on greenbelt land were given the go-ahead after the Scottish Government issued its judgement on Edinburgh’s LDP.

Its report insisted the Capital is facing a “significant shortfall” in housing over the next five years, requiring more homes to be built every year than “anything historically achieved even in the most positive economic circumstances”.

Clarendon said its scheme would make a “significant contribution” to this shortfall, as well as avoiding urban sprawl by creating an entirely new village. Public consultations will take place later this year.

Antony Duthie, director of Clarendon, said: “This proposal has the potential to deliver a standalone solution, in the short to medium term, to the shortfall of required housing of over 7000 homes as evidenced by the Scottish Government.

“It stands to benefit from a high-quality environment linked to existing and enhanced public transport links without the direct impact on existing infrastructure, character and amenity associated with extensions of existing urban areas.”