Edinburgh councillors reject plans for four-storey student flat on East Newington Place

Councillors have rejected plans to build new Edinburgh student accommodation directly next to an existing block of university flats.

The application to demolish a vacant garage on East Newington Place to make way for a four-storey building with 64 student beds went before Edinburgh City Council’s Development Management Sub-Committee on Wednesday (March 30).

Officials had urged members to grant planning permission, saying the new flats will not result in an excessive concentration of students in the locality.

The recommendation to approve came despite the site sitting next to an 89-room block owned by Edinburgh University, near to several other student accommodation developments in Newington.

There were 93 objections and no letters of support for the application, which was lodged by S Harrison Developments.

One resident said: “I’m not opposed to students living in the area, as I think they add to the diversity of our much loved community. I do however, believe in a balance between long-standing residents and transient students.

“Considering there are at least three other student serviced accommodation (sites) in the area, we are tipping the balance.”

Another wrote it’s “perfectly clear that there is a major overprovision of student accommodation in the area,” adding: “the loss of amenity in the public realm in this area is notable.”

Plans to knock down a disused garage on East Newington Place and turn it into student flats have been denied.

Edinburgh Council planning policies state that if the students make up more than half the population of an area, this will result in a “greater potential imbalance within the community.”

In a report to the committee, officers estimated that students “currently make up a maximum of 50 per cent of the population of areas within a 10 minute walk of the application site.”

But they noted there is “no guarantee” this is the case due to uncertainty around how much new accommodation adds to a student population, arguing that some “would otherwise have been in rented accommodation.”

An objector estimated if the new development went ahead, student density “would amount to over 72 per cent of the area population.”

They added: “There is also an issue of safety due to increased traffic and there not being a wide enough road to accommodate extra parking and movement of vehicles in a dead end road.

“You also have to consider the added noise factor which all these extra residents would create in such a restricted narrow ‘place’ especially in the latter part of the day.”

In another representation to officers, a local resident stated the ratio of students to permanent residents is already “grossly unbalanced.”

The resident said: “There is already more purpose built student accommodation in our neighbourhood than the neighbourhood can support.”

Planning convenor Neil Gardiner said at the meeting: “I can understand that there’s some concern about the quantum of student housing in this area.”

Councillor Gardiner admitted he could “see the merits of the design in general”, but added it would be “slightly disproportionate” in size compared the B-listed building opposite the development site.

Conservative councillor Cameron Rose moved the motion to reject the proposals on the grounds it would result in ‘excessive concentration of student accommodation’ and negatively impact listed buildings on Newington Place.

The committee unanimously agreed to refuse planning permission for the application.

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