London-based HUB Residential Ltd’s application to develop 73-bedroom purpose-built student accommodation at 26 Dunedin St (23/05027/FUL) has been refused. We first reported the case here.
Officials said that ‘Owing to the proposed building’s size and footprint and its relationship to the boundaries of the site, the proposal would amount to an overdevelopment of the site, not in keeping with the established urban grain and detrimental to the character and amenity of the area.’
They also found there was not enough internal or external communal space to provide residents with adequate amenity and chances to socialise.
The lack of an acceptable waste and recycling management strategy would also negatively affect residents and their neighbours.
Three neighbours made written objections to the proposal. The Edinburgh Access Panel highlighted the lack of pick-up/drop-off points and parking spaces for disabled drivers. Corridors, it said, did not seem to conform to necessary standards.
The Cockburn Association noted that the Beaverlands area risks being transformed through ad-hoc market-driven development. Preferable, it said, would be a community-led Local Place Plan establishing residents’ aspirations and priorities for the neighbourhood.
Once registered, the Local Place Plan could then be taken into account by the Council as a material consideration when planning applications are being considered.
