First new homes to be built on green belt land in Edinburgh

AN UPMARKET housing development on green belt land has been approved by Edinburgh City Council planners.

Seventeen terraced and detached family homes will be built at Riccarton Mains Road in Currie.

The CALA Homes site is the first green belt development to be approved by the Council under Edinburgh’s new Local Development Plan (LDP).

The 1.15 hectare site – close to Curriehill Railway Station – could be under construction by August and completed as early as the end of 2016.

Andrew Statham, Land Buyer with CALA Homes (East), said: “We welcome this positive statement of intent from the city council. It has a clear strategy for delivering family homes where they are most needed and most in demand.

“Several years of preparation work and public consultation has been involved in getting to this point.

“We are very pleased that effort is now coming to fruition and that we were able to demonstrate that our designs would be both suitable and sustainable for this location.

“Currie is a hugely popular area and we expect high demand from families who want to live there”.

He added: “The mix of properties we’ll be offering will be ideal for those moving into Currie, as well as allowing families already there the chance to trade up without moving away.”
The development will include two-storey detached, semi-detached and terraced properties. The largest will be a five-bedroom home, while a further six will have four bedrooms.

Ten of the homes will offer three bedroom accommodation.

Contribution

The upmarket development will also contribute financially to improvements at Currie Primary School, enhancements to the Hermiston Gait Park and Ride and to Gillespie Crossroads, and  help fund affordable housing schemes.

The measures are a part of Edinburgh’s Local Development Plan, which was submitted to the Scottish Government for approval last month.