Kirkliston villagers '˜furious' as plans for 100 new homes approved

The city council has been accused of ignoring the views of villagers after proposals to build up to 100 homes on the edge of Kirkliston were given the green light.

VIllagers in Kirkliston have spoken out against the plans.

The village on the western edge of the Capital is set to turn into a town with the influx of new homes, after developers secured planning permission in principle for the scheme for the south east of the settlement, close to Main Street.

The plans received two letters of support and 309 letters of objection, along with a petition. Liberal Democrat Councillor Louise Young lives in the village and tallied up more than 400 names on a petition opposing the development.

She said: “People in Kirkliston are furious at this decision. The village already suffers from horrendous problems arising from city commuter traffic.

“It is madness to approve the building of a hundred more homes along from the very junction which sees the worst of the traffic queues.

“People in Kirkliston already feel the city centre based council is out of touch and simply isn’t listening to them. This latest decision will only make that worse.”

The five hectares of land is currently used for grazing. It was originally designated as green belt land – but was removed and allocated as “urban area”.

Cllr Hal Osler asked for the application to be put on hold while an ongoing Kirkliston transport investigation is completed to ensure the development will not make the situation worse.

She said: “I do have major 
issues with this which is basically the transport issue. I’m aware of the fact that this could be adding to it.

“We have to be aware that there are particular issues in this area. There are all sorts of impacts that we will have to consider.”

Cllr John McLellan was also worried about the impact additional homes could have on transport in Kirkliston.

He said: “I’m not convinced the proposal in front of us goes anywhere near far enough in addressing transport issues.

“I don’t feel comfortable with approving this to the extent of the impact and the difficulties to the infrastructure that this part of town has.”

But Vice Planning Convener, Cllr Maureen Child said there were no planning reasons to refuse the application.

She said: “If we are to refuse this application, which has been allocated as a housing site, I think we are getting into shaky ground.”

Councillors approved the planning permission in principle. Detailed plans for the homes, including how many units will be built, will be submitted to the council.