Former residents of Moredun high-rise flats slam housing plans

Former residents of high rise flats in Moredun have spoken out against the ‘scandal’ of possible housing development plans on the adjoining green space.
Moredun residents campaign to save thier park from developers who want to build flats on the site. Picture: Lisa FergusonMoredun residents campaign to save thier park from developers who want to build flats on the site. Picture: Lisa Ferguson
Moredun residents campaign to save thier park from developers who want to build flats on the site. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Several current residents of the flats have been camping on the green for more than a week to try and prevent land surveyors investigating the possible housing development.

Contractors were unable to work on the site on Thursday and Friday due to obstruction from residents camping.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Locals have said they will stay in their tents on the green for ‘as long as it takes’. Several Evening News readers have shared memories of their time growing up in the flats and playing on the green.

Jennifer Grant moved to a 13th floor flat in Marytree House in 1967, when she was 20 and had just started a family.

“Coming out there for me was just brilliant. They were lovely flats with all that space outside,” she said.

“We were all young mums and had young children and they would play one the green,” she said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Surely the multistory flats were built with the idea that these were our gardens.

“To build other houses there would be an absolute scandal. I really would not like to see that.”

Nancy Craig, 57, visited her granny for several weeks every summer as a child in the 1970s.

She has fond memories of playing on Moredunvale Green with cousins, and remembers going down to the stream.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Then living in Newtongrange, she said that going to Edinburgh for the summer was ‘a big adventure’ for her.

She strongly opposes the possible housing development on Moredunvale Green.

“All kids are entitled to play outside, even if they live in a high rise,” she said. Jade Louise Munson, 27, grew up in Moredun before moving to Bathgate when she stated her own family.

Everyone on her mother’s side of the family has lived in the high rise flats since they were built in the 1960s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She used to play on the green with friends as a child, and had sports day activities there while at Moredun Primary School.

“We all used to have barbecues there or meet there before days out,” she said.

“It’s an iconic place in Moredun. The swing has been there as long as I can remember and it’s a gathering point to keep people off the streets.

“We can’t lose that field, it’s been there since Moredun got built. When I saw they were going to go ahead I was really upset.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.