Edinburgh student accommodation: Row over Fountainbridge housing as developers 'change' plans

Developers who won permission for student accommodation in Edinburgh have been accused of going back on promises to residents about measures to cut noise and disturbance.

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Glencairn Properties got the go-ahead for the scheme in Lower Gilmore Place – where they originally applied to build new homes – after an appeal to the Scottish Government.

Local objections that the area, beside the Union Canal at Fountainbridge, already had an over-supply of student accommodation were overruled.

Now Ishbel McFarlane, of the Gilmore Place Lochrin Residents Association, says the company has made a "huge raft" of changes to the plans which she claims will impact on those living next to the development.

She said: "The developer had agreed to build a 10ft fence 1.5 metres from our boundary to protect our privacy and help reduce noise – now it has just disappeared.

"There were to be trees along their boundary to help with screening for privacy and noise reduction but they have also been unilaterally removed from the plans.

"And they have removed the basement floor so the plant room is being relocated alongside my neighbour's boundary wall."

Residents say the plans for student accommodation have been amended without consultation.

The revised plans also show a pergola with large bulb festoon lighting and an outdoor cinema.

The amendments have been approved as "non-material variations" which the planning department can agree to without referring them to committee.

But Ms McFarlane said: "The council's own guidelines say the cumulative impact must be considered and while each variation may be minor in itself the combined impact could result in more significant changes which could require a new application."

And she said: "Some of the amendments completely ignore agreements which Glencairn made directly with the local residents. The developer has now unilaterally discarded these arrangements from their plans without any consultation."

Daryl Teague, managing director of Glencairn Properties, defended the changes. He said a mutual agreement had been made with the neighbours to retain the existing boundary wall, which allowed them to retain any planters and plants which had been grown on the boundary.

He said: “By retaining the existing wall we addressed the boundary situation and it would not be reasonably practical to build a secondary wall.”

Mr Teague said trees could not be planted as proposed because there were too many drains running under the ground there.

The basement had been removed because it would have involved a prolonged programme of deep excavations. The number of bedrooms in the scheme was being reduced from 74 to 69 as a result.

Any plant which could make noise was being housed within the building and an existing store on the boundary would be used for non-noisy plant, such a a sprinkler storage tank, electrical meter and gas meter.

He also said that, although the outdoor cinema was shown on a drawing, it would not be going ahead and the festoon lighting would be below the rear boundary wall line.

Mr Teague said: “As with all brownfield developments, not all elements of the site are known until full demolition and ground investigations take place.

"We have reacted to the site challenges by going through the correct channels to obtain the necessary permissions.”