| Planning briefs for the sites were drawn up by council officials and put out for consultation, without any adverse comments being received.
The sites are part of the area covered by the council’s Whitfield masterplan, and are aimed at contributing towards the regeneration of the estate.
Aberlady Crescent includes the site of the former Greenfield Primary School and Lothian Crescent takes in the area previously occupied by multi-storey flats.
As the Aberlady site has not been allocated for a specific purpose in the local plan review a residential use would be acceptable.
The southern part of the Lothian site is allocated for residential use, but the northern section is designated for use as open space.
Whilst there is a presumption in the local plan against the development of public open space it is considered acceptable to use the whole site for housing as the design framework for Whitfield envisages the creation of more open space elsewhere in the area.
The briefs for both sites make the point that their proximity to the countryside offers an opportunity for high quality housing developments to be created.
Accordingly, flats would only be permitted in exceptional circumstances and should be built in two-storey town house, flatted villa style units rather than in tenements.
It is envisaged the Aberlady site would accommodate between 60 and 70 houses, with around another 70 on the Lothian site.
Once the finalised planning briefs have been approved by councillors, who are due to make a decision at the planning and transport committee next week, they will be issued to prospective developers. |
