Issues | dcasite

Plans to develop the RBS site on Fettes Row and Eyre Place will damage our homes, community and environment

Your objection is critical

WHY TO OBJECT

Planning permission has just been sought for a massive new development on the site of the RBS office and car park bordering Dundas Street, Fettes Row, Royal Crescent and Eyre Place.

The proposal is for shops, offices, a hotel and no fewer than 400 flats, plus over 500 underground parking spaces. It would transform the area, hugely increasing the population of this quiet corner of the New Town with horrible results on traffic and local services, as well as in adjoining areas such as Canonmills.

The scale and alien form of the proposed development would make a disastrous impact. Its buildings would dominate the adjacent A-listed structures in the World Heritage Site.

Along Eyre Place, extending into the park on the north side, would be a single monolithic block four storeys high. On the southern side, facing Fettes Row and Royal Crescent, there would be eight free-standing blocks containing 210 flats, each standing six storeys high, with two storeys of parking below. Seen from King George V Park and Eyre Place, the buildings would be eight storeys high.

HOW TO OBJECT

Residents can push back by making objections. The more valid objections received, the greater the chance that the council will scale the development back. They have the power to do so. Part or all of the existing RBS car park might well be incorporated into George V Park.

Objections must raise what the planners call material considerations to be effective. Anything else is discarded. Objections do not need to be lengthy or deeply reasoned. They need to be written in your own words. The closing date is 16 December.

Here is a list of material considerations and possible comments

traffic and parking – plans claim no new traffic would be generated despite 400 new flats and parking for 500 cars
appearance of the area – massive alien structures, the heights of the buildings are excessive
impact on a conservation area – the area is within the Northern New Town Conservation Area, where new buildings are supposed to complement existing ones
setting or character of a listed building – adjacent buildings to the south are all listed and within the World Heritage Site, new structures would be detrimental to their character and setting
loss of significant landscape features - views to the Forth will be obstructed, for instance those looking down Dundonald Street will be obscured by massive new buildings