Edinburgh snooker hall to make way for new homes in Corstorphine after plans approved despite 19 objections
Four new homes are set to replace an Edinburgh snooker hall after the plans were approved by the council, despite 19 objections from locals.
Corstorphine Snooker Company applied in November last year to replace the Manse Club, at 62 Manse Road, with three new one and a half-storey terraced units, and a detached one and a half-storey cottage.
Plans to demolish the Corstorphine snooker hall and build five three-storey units were previously refused on December 23, 2022.
The latest plans were accepted by the council’s planning department on November 28 with a section 69 agreement requiring the applicant to pay a £7,304.25 healthcare infrastructure contribution.
Each house is to have a high roof and dormers to enable living accommodation in the roofs, totalling three bedrooms. Soft landscaping to the front and rear is to be provided, forming private front and rear gardens.
Approving the plans, the council’s chief planning officer David Givan said: “The works will enhance the special character and appearance of the conservation area, and are therefore acceptable.
“The proposed use of the site to provide four houses is considered acceptable. No unreasonable heritage, amenity, flooding or transport impact is identified, subject to conditions.
“The design of the houses is considered of good quality and it has been demonstrated that the proposal will have due regard for the global climate and nature crisis, complying with the relevant design, sustainability and biodiversity policies of the Development Plan.
“Subject to a suitable legal agreement the proposal will not have an unacceptable impact on healthcare infrastructure. The proposal complies with the Development Plan. No other material considerations identified outweigh this conclusion.
“It is therefore recommended that the application be granted, subject to conditions and a suitable legal agreement being reached.”
The application received 19 objections from local residents, with reasons for objecting including that the snooker hall is an asset of community value and there are no alternative venues nearby.
Other objectors highlighted that the proposed houses will negatively impact neighbouring amenity including privacy and sunlight. As well as insufficient car parking provided, the new houses having a negative impact the character of the conservation area, traffic congestion, the loss of green/open space, the loss of a leisure facility, and the lack of need for new housing in the local area.
In the planning documents, the applicant said: “Earlier proposals were rejected on the basis that they would not preserve the character and appearance of the conservation area and the amenity of the proposed residential properties may be adversely impacted by the commercial premises to the north.
“The revised design approach for the site has therefore taken these conclusions on board, and the proposals have been substantially altered to ensure that they enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area, and that the amenity of the new houses would not be affected by the adjacent hot food takeaway.
“These significant changes include reducing the number, scale and height of the new buildings; replacing the modern design approach with the use of traditional forms and materials; and changing the massing of the houses to reflect adjacent properties.
“These changes will ensure that the revised proposals would have a positive impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area.”
The application site is a 650sqm piece of land located to the west of Manse Road. The site is occupied by a single storey snooker hall, built in 1939, with a large roof as well as a garden area to the site's north. The site is bounded on all sides by land in residential use, either developed as houses or flats, and associated gardens and outbuildings.
Corstorphine Snooker Company added that due to its age and type of construction, the building suffers from high energy costs and is costly to maintain. Although the club continues to attract members, the membership is ageing and has been declining over a number of years, similar to snooker halls generally throughout Scotland.
The applicant now has three years to begin work to demolish the snooker hall and build four new homes. With conditions added to the approval including the implementation of a programme of archaeological work, and details of a strategy for the re-use and recycling of materials on the site being submitted to and approved by the planning authority before development commences.
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