RBS calls for relaxation of greenbelt rule

THE Royal Bank of Scotland wants planners to relax green-belt restrictions to allow new housing and office developments around its global headquarters at Gogarburn.

RBS is one of several major landowners in west Edinburgh trying to persuade the city council to free up land in the area to satisfy demand for new homes and create an “international business gateway”.

The council has said it may be prepared to allow up to 2400 new homes in west Edinburgh, though none of its preferred sites is on RBS land.

The bank already has planning permission for a further 14,000 square metres of offices next to its existing site.

But in a submission to a council consultation, it proposes expansion into the green belt on both sides of the A8 for a “global business hub” and talks of a “unique opportunity for low-density housing that could serve demand from new global businesses”.