Council approves homes on old tyre factory

Edinburgh City Council voted unanimously in favour of the 490-home development in Newbridge, which will include an energy centre, residential care home, community facilities and shops.

However the developers, Edinburgh-based Ediston Properties, have been asked to clean up the former industrial site before building can go ahead.

Some parts of the site – which has been used for tyre manufacturing since 1968 and was most recently occupied by Continental Tyres – are believed to be contaminated.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) advised the council to investigate whether the site needed to be cleaned up.

In a report to the council’s planning committee, the Environmental Health department said: “It is believed that parts of this site are contaminated to some degree and should this application be granted, the site will require remediation.”

Environmental Health officers also raised concerns about possible noise pollution from nearby industrial sites and Edinburgh Airport.

A number of businesses and local authorities had raised objections to the development being built on former industrial land, but a spokesman for Edinburgh City Council told edie that their major concern was that the site would no longer be available for industrial use.

Only five letters of objection were sent to the council. More than 30 people wrote in to support the scheme, including the local MSP Margaret Smith.

Following the council’s decision, Mrs Smith said: “This is a village that needs renewal and regeneration and housing regeneration is absolutely central to that.”

Kate Martin