Edinburgh residents are fuming over plans to build luxury flats on a piece of land next to Calton Hill that will block their historic view of the city.
Hartley Miller who lives on Blenheim Place is campaigning to stop the plans that residents believe will ruin the view, erase the history of the area while producing expensive flats for short term lets which are not accessible.
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Proposals to develop the derelict land by building a large block of luxury flats have been opposed by both local residents and conservation bodies. Despite the rejection of the plans in 2020, similar plans were submitted in 2021.
The residents have slammed the developers and claim the designs submitted would overshadow A-listed buildings while also diminish natural light for the properties
Both City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) and the Scottish Government are keen for derelict land to be put to good use and the site is currently an eyesore, making the case to find better uses if the renewed application is rejected.
But developers have said that the building has been designed to respect the character ofthe existing area, with cues taken from buildings surroundingthe site.
The south-eastern frontage facing Calton Hill has a strongverticality in it’s arrangement, with window alignment,soldier course brick panels and recessed downpipes usedto emphasise this.
The window arrangement is regimented,with equal spacing between bays, a key characteristic of theGeorgian buildings surrounding the site.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Hartley said: "We knew there needs to be something on that site but decided that whatever it was would be much less of a problem than the rejected previous application had been.
"It turned out that the developers changed their minds and came back with a slightly modified design - which is only marginally less terrible.
"The planning application has been hanging around since the beginning of the year. The original closing date for comments was December 31 - meaning that a lot of people did not see it or did not react.
He added: "The new opportunity to comment only arose because I kept nagging the case officer about the lack of a daylight study and they eventually produced one."
Hartley is not alone in having complaints with dozens of neighbours filing objections to the plans on the council planning portal.
He said: "We get on well with the neighbours and although I have taken the lead I have support from several of them and agreement to oppose the plan has been almost unanimous.
"There is only one submission in support of the application at the moment and I think it is from a lady who is so fed up with the rubbish and illegal parking on the site that she thinks anything would be better."
Hartley said work has been completed to convert the rough, stone-strewn path up to Calton Hill from Greenside into a wide asphalted path with street lighting and gutters.
"This will provide a shorter and easier route between Calton Hill and Picardy Place and the top of Leith Walk and will no doubt be welcomed by tourists and adopted by tour guides," he added.
"This opens the opportunity to make something more impressive of a neglected area which has to some extent been “damned by reputation” between 1870 and 1960 but has a history that could add to the understanding of Edinburgh’s past. However this opportunity looks as though it may be lost and the path will not be the asset it could be."
One concern is the view will be ruined. He explained: "At present those ascending Calton Hill for the views it gives of the World Heritage Site can look left at the A-listed buildings of Blenheim Place.
"If the proposed 15-metre high block of flats at 5-6 Marshall’s Court is approved and erected then this view from the path will be almost totally obscured."
"Greenside’s history is well worth a pause for explanation while walking up the path on a tour; it has romance, empathy, horror and gritty realism.
"The land – a valley at the base of Calton Hill - was given by James II to Edinburgh in 1456 for use as a training ground and for recreation and entertainment now it could be lost for good."
Another resident James Foster told Edinburgh Live: "My wife and I have lived in the area for almost four years.
"To be clear, we are not against flats or new housing, nor against the area being developed.
"The proposal is for luxury flats expected to be sold for over £300,000 which will, no doubt, be sold to wealthy business men/women as Pieds-a-terre, or bought by landlords to be turned into rented accommodation and as history shows, probably short term lets."
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He added: "There has been no effort to make the flats accessible to the city's occupants. There are exactly 19 flats being built keeping it just under the number where affordable housing must be included in the plans.
"This means the proposal will not help Edinburgh's housing crisis. The community has made several alternative suggestions: a green, garden, allotments, Calton Hill Visitors Centre, and more.
"This is not the first time a development has been proposed on site and none of the community's concerns and comments seem to have been considered by the developer, with the exception of points raised which show potential law breaking."
Edinburgh Live attempted to reach out to developers Kerwick Homes for a response to concerns raised.
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