Plans approved to turn Edinburgh home into a new nursery in Bruntsfield
Plans to turn an Edinburgh home into a new nursery have been approved by the council’s planning department.
The proposals for a change of use from private residential to nursery at 8 Bruntsfield Terrace were submitted by Forbes Nursery on August 12 and approved on October 13.
The approved plans will see minor internal alterations to the property, which will become a nursery for 60-65 children with operating hours of 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday.
The alterations include removing one wall on the ground floor and two walls on the first floor and installing pocket sliding doors to create three large playrooms. With another playroom to be sited in the current dining room on the ground floor.
The ground floor kitchen and first floor bathroom will remain in place, while the lower ground floors rooms will be used for storage, an office and a staff room.
The site is a large detached dwelling located at the corner of Bruntsfield Terrace and Greenhill Gardens. The B-listed villa was constructed around 1855 and is of an Italianate design.
Approving the change of use, the council’s chief planning officer David Givan said: “No external alterations are proposed associated with this change of use. The use of the property as a children's nursery would not adversely impact on the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building.
“Given that the plot is a considerable scale, and contains extensive mature planting, trees and hedging, it is not considered that there will be a significant noise impact on use of the garden ground as part of the nursery.
“The proposals will have due regard for the global climate and nature crisis, are acceptable in principle, will not have a detrimental impact on the living conditions of nearby residents and are of an acceptable scale.
“There are no transport concerns in respect of the proposal. There are no material considerations that outweigh this conclusion.”
This planning application received six notes of support and one objection, with those in favour happy the proposal will allow more children to attend a high quality childcare provision.
While the sole objector raised concerns about an adverse impact on traffic and parking provision, with the nursery plans containing no additional parking.
The site is located in the Merchiston and Greenhill Conservation Area. The property faces onto Bruntsfield links to the north. The surrounding area is mainly residential in character, but the neighbouring villa to the west has previously been converted to a children’s nursery.
The applicant now has three years to begin work for the approved change of use application, with a condition limiting the new nursery’s operating hours to 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday.
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