Housing fears in Roslin

Houses are springing up in and around Roslin.

Concern has been raised about the number of new housing developments in and around Roslin, and the lack of required infrastructure.

Taylor Wimpey’s application to build 304 new homes off Main Street is the latest proposed housing development in the village.

Sid Gardner of Roslin Community Council, said: “We feel this area has more building going on than anywhere else in Midlothian.

“There doesn’t appear to be anybody overseeing the bigger picture. Things like traffic and sewage are up to capacity.

“This cumulative development locally will come without the infrastructure to handle it. There is obviously no plan to support it. The roads here are a disgrace as it is.

“Yes, we need houses. But the cumulative development in a four mile radius of Roslin is just not acceptable.

“Midlothian planning department seems to be under considerable stress. They don’t appear to have the capacity to deal with the amount of developments in depth in terms of analysis and scrutiny.

“The developments are developer led, not led by the council.

“We are also not happy about coalescence between Bilston and Roslin. We are going to lose our identity.”

Midlothian Council’s cabinet member for communities and economy, Cllr Russell Imrie said: “Housing demand across the Edinburgh region, including within Midlothian, requires the building of many more homes. Scottish Government, in approving the overall plan for the region, has set the housing numbers to be provided in each council area. In seeking to meet these challenging requirements of government, the council has, following extensive public consultation, published in 2017 a local development plan for Midlothian. This plan identifies new sites for housing development across the county, including at Roslin. It also identifies the infrastructure required to service this new housing and puts in place arrangements for developers to contribute fully to meeting the costs of that additional, essential infrastructure.

“Some items, such as the A720 City Bypass and other trunk roads, are outwith the control of the council, and on these we are lobbying the government strongly for improvements to meet the consequences of new development.”