Reporter refuses Glenbrook 53 house application

In a late Christmas present for local people, the Reporter has refused the application by Clarendon / Simon Thomson to build 53 houses on Green Belt land on the Glenbrook Road just outside of Balerno. His refusal seems to be based mainly on Green Belt and landscape considerations. Click here for full details: Glenbrook refusal 2018.12 . So far at least, the western (Glenbrook), southern (Cockburn Crescent) and eastern (Harlaw Gait) boundaries are proving to be defensible. Residents will be aware that the planning system is heavily weighted in favour of developers however. Community Right of Appeal (CRA) for applications that fall outside of the LDP would forestall this.

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Glenbrook 5 house review / appeal – REFUSED

Residents may recall that this application was refused by CEC Planning in January of this year. Since then, the developer appealed the decision to CEC Planning Dept. This  appeal has once again been refused by the CEC Planning Local Review Body (LRB). The refusal letter from LRB is attached here.

Many residents responded to the review notice with detailed and well argued letters of objection, and these seem to have been duly noted by CEC Planning.

Bankhead / Glenbrook application for 5 houses – REFUSED

Residents will be relieved to learn that the application to build 5 houses in the Bankhead/Glenbrook area, promoted by local landowner Simon Thomson & Clarendon land agents has been refused.

The refusal was based on 3 points:

Glenbrook – application submitted for 53 houses

Developers Clarendon, with local landowner Simon Thomson, have recently submitted a new application to build up to 53 houses by the junction of the Johnsburn / Glenbrook road – see previous posts for map. This application is for development on Green Belt land, and is not part of the recently published Local Development Plan.

The new deadline for comments is Friday 27th October – to submit comments, please read on…

Glenbrook – the Thin End of the Wedge for Balernos Green Belt

Developers Clarendon have recently submitted a minor proposal to build a preliminary 5 houses, on land adjacent to the proposed 60 house development that is already earmarked for Glenbrook Road (see previous post). It is not hard to see that this small scale proposal could pave the way for the main Glenbrook development to go ahead more smoothly. Add this to the fact that the local landowner (Simon Thomson) owns the Goodtrees land to the west of Cockburn Crescent, and that Clarendon were the agents behind the twice refused Cockburn Cres proposal for 150 houses to the south of Cockburn Crescent.

In the light of this, it may be wise for residents to comment on this seemingly minor proposal.

Ravelrig – community sets out demands to CEC and CALA

Now that the Ravelrig development is inevitable, Balerno Community Council have begun negotiations with CEC (City of Edinburgh Council) and CALA Homes to make the best of a bad deal for Balerno. Whilst asserting that the housing represents the wrong houses in the wrong place (but great news for CALA’s record £60 m. profits) the community needs to demand the best possible outcomes from a wealthy developer who will be building up at Ravelrig for the next 4-5 years, adding to local traffic congestion with lorries, vans & earth movers.

Reporter approves Ravelrig plan

Last week residents were informed by the government Reporter that developers Gladman have been successful in their appeal – against the refusal by City of Edinburgh Council – to build 120 houses on Green Belt near the Ravelrig Road.  Balerno Community Council is calling a residents meeting about the proposal on Thurs 13th August at 7pm in Balerno High School.

Download our Window Poster

Balerno Green Belt group has produced a poster which you can display in your window to show your support.

Please download and print it out if you support the Green Belt around Balerno.

Window poster 2015.07(PDF, 630 KB)

Cockburn Cres – saved again!

The Reporters decision on the Appeal by developers Barratt David Wilson to develop the land south of Cockburn Cres has been announced today – and the answer is still a Refusal. This is the second appeal by the developers since the first one was lodged in March 2014. Residents might be wondering why a second appeal was allowed to be submitted so soon after the first had been so comprehensively rejected by the Reporter. Download decision here.

Update Dec 2018 + get involved

Glenbrook – Application submitted for 53 houses (Sept 2017) – appeal refused Dec 2018

Ravelrig – this is now being built, as the Reporter upheld the developers appeal.

Newmills – this is now being built, as it is included in the latest LDP

Mansfield – developers appeal  was refused for the second time – unlikely to go further

Harlaw Gait – developers appeal was refused – unlikely to go further

What next?

1. Follow us by clicking on the Follow button at the bottom of this page

2. Write to your local representatives – CLICK HERE

3. Demand system change to rebalance the planning system – follow Planning Democracy