Edinburgh council awards £1 million contract for regeneration of Meadowbank with 600 green homes

A £1 million contract has been awarded for the regeneration of Meadowbank with 600 new homes and spaces for commercial and community ventures.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

The development on the site next to Meadowbank sports centre, off London Road, is intended to create one of the Capital’s greenest neighbourhoods by incorporating low-car, low-carbon infrastructure with energy efficient homes.

The city council, which is leading the regeneration has named a consortium known as the Edinburgh Meadowbank Group (EDMB) – made up of of John Graham Holdings, Panacea Property Development and Miller Homes – as its development partner for the next stage of the project following a competitive procurement process.

The development will see 600 new homes. Image: Collective Architecture.

They will now progress design and pre-construction works, including developing detailed designs and agreeing net-zero carbon energy measures, by early 2023 ahead of the start of construction work on site.

The new homes will be mixed tenure, for sale and rent, with at least 35 per cent being affordable homes and a number of them fully wheelchair-adapted. A GP surgery is also planned for the development.

The pubic realm and landscaping will focus on the industrial and sporting heritage of the area.

And there will be new active travel routes through to Restalrig.

The Meadowbank masterplan for the site was approved in October 2020 following extensive community consultation. Regular engagement on proposals for the site has continued with the Meadowbank Sounding Board – a group consisting of local representatives, councillors, and council officers – reviewing progress and ensuring the site continues to meet the community’s and council’s priorities.

Community benefits promised include seven new apprenticeship positions, 14 new jobs, and site visits for local schools over the course of the development, as well as employability support events and donations of up to £100,000 to community groups. All employees and sub-contractors will be paid the Real Living Wage.

Finance convener Rob Munn said: “Strong and extensive scrutiny has gone into this procurement process to get us to this point. We now want to deliver more affordable housing and space for retail businesses, while we hope to provide a much-needed GP surgery provision to benefit everyone within the local community.

“These homes are located a short distance from the city centre and will be both cost effective to heat alongside some that will be wheelchair accessible. With the Meadowbank masterplan also having been awarded a ‘Building with Nature’ accreditation we know that development will be setting standards for sustainable design, implementation and maintenance of high-quality green features so I look forward to seeing the results of this stage of the development and what EDMB can bring to that.”

Vice-convener Joan Griffiths said the development would help meet the council’s ambition to deliver 20,000 affordable homes by 2027.

“This development and wider neighbourhood, shaped by the local community, will bring a great regenerative feel to this area of the city while, through the community benefits programme we have agreed as part of this contract, we also hope to bring new jobs and training opportunities for local people, offer opportunities for local school leavers and children to be part of the vision for Meadowbank.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.