Developers stand firm on campus plan

THE firm behind one of the most controversial developments in Edinburgh in recent years has refused to scale back its plans, setting itself on a collision course with the new council administration in the capital.

Developers still want the city council to let it build 116 homes in the grounds of Edinburgh Napier’s Craighouse campus, despite a post-election pledge to “preserve our green spaces”.

They claim their plans fit in with those of the council and insist just 4 per cent of the campus grounds in the Morningside area will need to be built on to help pay for wider improvements.

Labour and SNP council candidates had spoken out against the development in the run-up to last month’s election and have since insisted priority for new residential developments shall be on “brownfield” plots of land.

More than 5,000 residents in Morningside and Craiglockhart have signed a petition against the scheme, which is being developed by a consortium including the university and property tycoons.

The Craighouse Partnership paid Edinburgh Napier £10 million for the site, with 66 homes due to be created in existing listed buildings. And the firm believes that the council’s coalition agreement “chimes” with its own vision for the campus.

Andrew Burns, the council leader, has insisted that he is committed to “preserving the protected green open space and woodland of the campus from development and to retaining free public access to this beautiful historic site”.