Hotel developers say lessons learnt over converting school

Published on Friday 18 July 2008 10:44

A FRESH bid is under way to turn a former school boarding house into a hotel – just months after a similar scheme was thrown out.

The former St Margaret's School for Girls property in Craigmillar Park would be transformed into a 115-bedroom hotel under the new plan.

Edinburgh-based developer Ashford Property was refused planning permission for a 119-room hotel in March.

At the time, protesters claimed the development of the Victorian buildings, at the corner of Lady Road and Craigmillar Park, was too big, and would lead to severe traffic problems in the area.

Despite the new scheme only being slightly smaller than the original plan, developers say they are hopeful that it will get the go-ahead this time.

If the plans are approved, the hotel is expected to be run by Travelodge and would offer accommodation only, with a small, licensed cafe serving breakfast, light snacks and drinks for residents. Unlike before, there would be no provision to host large functions.

The site was previously occupied by the Oratava Hotel, in the 1970s, before it was bought out and renovated to create the St Margaret's School for Girls in 1983, and Andrew Smith of Ashford Property said the firm had worked with the local community to try to address their concerns over the planned scheme.

"The conversion of the site into a hotel, securing the heritage of a historic part of the city and enhancing local amenities, provides a fantastic opportunity for the regeneration of a currently derelict site," he said.

"We have worked closely with the local community and council in the development of our proposals – an extensive community engagement exercise has been undertaken, which included a major exhibition at the school and meetings with key stakeholders.

"The reinstatement of the site as a hotel will be both sensitive and sympathetic to the environment, retaining and restoring the existing villas, rather than seeing them demolished or continue to lie derelict."

The hotel would be created by converting two existing properties, and the scheme would be completed with the building of a new development on the surrounding land.

The company wants to demolish the existing rear block of the school, which was added in the 1970s and is described as "unsightly", and replace it with a something with a "contemporary design".

The original plans led to 78 letters of objection being submitted to the city council. Fred Mackintosh, the Lib Dem Westminster candidate for the area, was opposed to the previous plans but admitted there was an argument for developing the buildings.

Cllr Mackintosh said: "The previous plans were completely unacceptable, but I know the developers have done a lot of work to try and involve the community, who quite rightly were very opposed to their original plan."

He added: "I think with this we will need to wait and see, but it would be correct to say no-one wants to see these historic buildings lying empty and deteriorating.

"There is an argument for development, and certainly it would be good to see them in use again.

"The question is whether this is the right development."