Edinburgh residents speak out against proposed student housing block in Dalry ahead of planning decision

Developers Sungate Ventures Ltd want to build new student flats in a vacant industrial site off West Park Place, just south of Haymarket Station. There are already seven purpose built student accommodation blocks within 500 metres of the site, with the new block set to add 134 beds.

Xander Lyons, a law student, believes the area already has too much unaffordable student housing.

He said: “We have too many. There’s so many student housing buildings around here, we’ve got Orwell Terrace and Bainfield, and then IQ. It seems like every time there’s a new development planned, it’s student flats. If they were affordable, then great, but they’re not.

“You’re quite often sharing with eight other people, and you’re paying 800, maybe 900 pounds a month. It’s not going to help the housing crisis.”

The vacant industrial site off West Park Place would be replaced with student flats. | Joe Sullivan

Sungate’s proposal would see 10 per cent of the flats in the block be studio flats, with the rest being shared flats. It would see the current industrial site, which was built in the 1920s, demolished, and replaced with two linked six-storey blocks.

Across West Park Place from the vacant property is another student housing block, where rooms in shared flats start at £840 per month.

The facade of the new block would predominantly be brick, with a metal roof. Cycle parking would be provided in a basement level.

Another local resident also said she was not keen on the plans, and wanted to see the property used for something else, such as council housing.

Alyssa Milne said: “I’m not for it at all. It’s already quite a dense area. There’s already a housing crisis, student accommodation shouldn’t be here. There’s already five [student housing blocks] within five minutes. It should be social housing.”

Not all local residents were opposed to the new development, however.

Karen McArdle, 58, has lived in the area for almost eight years and believes any new development going into the vacant industrial space would mark a positive change.

She said: “It’s empty all the time. The lights in there were stuck on for a while, it was quite creepy. I don’t want to see it empty, considering the amount of places in Edinburgh that are making plenty of money.

“I’m quite happy to have youngsters around. It needs to be something, it can’t just sit there gathering dust. It’s good for the youngsters.”

Karen McArdle, 58, has lived in the area for almost eight years, and says she wants to see the industrial space repurposed . | Joe Sullivan

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Officers have recommended that councillors grant planning permission for the development, saying it is in compliance with the city’s planning guidelines and development plan.

In a report to councillors, they pointed out the site’s public transport links, being two minutes from a bus stop on Dalry Road, six minutes from Haymarket Station and seven minutes from the nearest tram stop.

Concerns had been raised at an earlier stage about a bat population living in the industrial site, but a survey has identified interventions that provide them with homes in the area.

Councillors will decide whether to grant planning permission to the development at the next meeting of the Development Management Sub-Committee on Wednesday, June 11.