300 properties to be built at former treatment works

HUNDREDS of homes are in line for construction on the site of a water treatment works – but nearby residents fear the area may not cope with an influx of families.

Scottish Water has lodged an application with the city council for planning permission “in principle” to transform its soon-to-be-redundant Alnwickhill site in Liberton into 300 houses.

The site will become “surplus to requirements” for Scottish Water as soon as new treatment works at Glencorse officially take over in the near future.

The company hopes to sell the site to a developer, with planning consent already in place, in a bid to gain maximum income through the sale – which it says will be ploughed back into Scottish Water projects.

The application, lodged this week, suggests the development could accommodate up to 300 new homes at the Liberton Gardens site, although no numbers have been finalised.

Scottish Water has already held a pre-planning consultation with the neighbouring community, which included public exhibitions and letters to nearby homes.

However, there are still fears over the increase in traffic the creation of hundreds of new homes could bring and concerns about the impact it may have on schools.

Alex Scott, chairman of the Liberton and District Community Council, said: “There is a concern about the traffic because we have been told there is only going to be one entrance and one exit to the development.

“It’s already a very busy road so they need to consider the traffic situation there. We have been told it could be 250 new houses and you could be talking two cars per home.

“We are also hoping for some sort of community amenities up there, like a community centre and some shops.

“The issue of local schools also needs to be considered because we are not sure whether the current schools will be able to cope with all these new homes.”

The Glencorse water treatment works in Midlothian were set to become fully operational last September.

The £130 million development has taken more than three years to complete and will supply Edinburgh and parts of Midlothian.

A Scottish Water spokesman said: “Scottish Water has applied for planning permission in principle to seek to formally confirm that residential development will be acceptable on this site when this asset is made redundant.

“This application does not include details of the number or type of houses or road layout and landscaping.

“This level of detail has not yet been fully developed and will be subject to separate consultation and planning application to City of Edinburgh Council at a later date.”