Zoo houses plan gets go-ahead

Published on Friday 4 September 2009 09:44

CAMPAIGNERS today vowed to continue their fight against plans for homes at Edinburgh Zoo, despite the council giving its backing to the scheme.

After a lengthy debate on the proposal at a planning committee meeting yesterday, councillors voted 8-6 in favour of the proposal for 80 homes on the site.

The decision means that the massive expansion of the zoo, which is reliant on revenue from housing to fund it, is back on.

Opponents of the proposal will now have to come up with a new objection to the plans during a six-week consultation to force a second public inquiry, which is thought to be highly unlikely.

However, opponents will be able to object to the scheme again when a full detailed planning application is submitted.

Donald Gorrie, secretary of the Friends of Corstorphine Hill, said: "We are disappointed but it was quite clear that several of the councillors on the committee think 80 is excessive.

"We still believe that there should be a principle that there should be no housing, and to lose that principle is dangerous, but we can also argue that 20 is better than 80 so we may have a double-barreled argument.

"We have to now have sensible discussions with the zoo about what they really want, how they will pay for it and how much they intend the housing to generate."

Councillor Paul Edie, who represents the Corstorphine/Murrayfield ward, added: "I am deeply disappointed that we have lost this round. We have in excess of 200 objectors and that is not enough to persuade them that their stance is unacceptable."

It was the second time that councillors have had to vote on the zoo plans. In October 2007, the planning committee voted 7-6 against the plans for 124 homes as part of their original discussions of the Edinburgh City Local Plan.

It was then taken to a public inquiry, with a Scottish Government reporter recommending in July that "substantially fewer" homes should be built.

Last week, council officials said that, after negotiations with the zoo, a new site had been identified at the Kaimes Road staff entrance that would allow for 80 homes.

The decision split the council administration, with all five Liberal Democrat members of the committee voting against the housing plan, while the two SNP members voted for it, along with members of the Labour and Conservative groups.

Planning leader Councillor Jim Lowrie voted against the plans.

Conservative councillor Joanna Mowat said:

"We have to take tough decisions that will affect people in narrow areas of the city if they are for the greater good of the city."

After the meeting, David Windmill, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said he was "very pleased" with the decision.