Furious residents hit out over industrial storage unit plans for site old RAF barracks near Cammo

Residents said traffic is already ‘horrendous’ and the facility will make things worse.

Furious residents have hit out at plans to turn former RAF barracks into an industrial storage unit next to Cammo estate.

Miller Developments have submitted a planning notice to build an industrial storage site on the vacant army barracks at Turnhouse Road on the edge of the city. Original plans for a storage unit on the brownfield site were given the go-ahead in 2010 but the site was left in a ‘state of dereliction’ until Miller bought it last year.

Now altered proposals for the unit have sparked backlash from locals at Lennymuir and Cammo who claim traffic from the site will make already ‘horrendous’ congestion in the area worse and generate noise and pollution.

Lennymuir residents Laura, Jennifer, Wendy and Neil.

Mum-of-one Laura Perez said: “Traffic here is horrendous already. Turnhouse Road is so bad that it can take 40 minutes to get from the Turnhouse and Maybury Road junction to the Gyle. I could drive to Glasgow in that time. All the traffic generated by this unit will be on the only road we have in and out of here, which will pass a new play park and near to the new school. Kids from this neighbourhood already have to take a taxi to school because there’s no public transport. They were finally going to get a chance to walk to a closer school, scoot or bike and now it won’t be safe. Now they will have that right taken away fro them again.

“Increased traffic, noise pollution, and the potential for hazardous materials transportation as well as heavy commercial traffic near school premises are all a major worry for us as parents. Our children have a right to a safe learning environment.”

It comes as developers have made another attempt to build more than 500 houses on nearby green belt land at Cammo, after the original plans were thrown out following a campaign by locals.

The 18 acre plot of the proposed storage unit on the northern side of Turnhouse Road, West Craigs. previously known as Airwest, is part of an RAF facility decommissioned in 1995. All former buildings have been demolished and the site is strewn with rubble. It was sold by a private investor and bought by Miller developments in 2022 from previous owners who were based abroad. Along with former RAF homes to the north, the site is bounded by a warehouse to the south, the airport to the west, and a railway line to the north/east.

Traffic bottlenecks at junction Turnhouse Road and Maybury

Due to the busy Turnhouse Maybury junction commercial and delivery vehicles currently use the Cammo Road, next to the estate. Ms Perez added: “The lorries that use that road just fly down it even though it’s a 20mph zone. It's a disaster. I don’t know how this development can be allowed. A massive unit operating 24/7 literally in our back gardens. We are used to some noise from the airport but this is different. Along with Friends of Cammo we will doing everything we can to have these concerns addressed.”

Residents at Cammo lost their bid to have Cammo Road closed over concerns about traffic and the impact on the nearby nature reserve. Residents say the unit ‘flies in the face’ of West Craigs master plan as well as the council’s 20 minute neighbourhoods strategy.

Colin Graham, director of Miller Developments said: “Our proposal to alter the 2010 consent will not bring any building closer to the existing housing that was already approved by Edinburgh council. We had a very useful pre-application public meeting last month, and are currently working on a response to the residents' feedback on issues such as traffic calming, landscaping and lighting. We look forward to keeping our neighbours up to date with matters as the scheme progresses.”