Bid to revive Porty waste depot plans

DEVELOPERS are attempting to revive plans for a controversial waste transfer depot in Portobello despite campaigners thinking the idea had been binned once and for all.

Earlier this year the Scottish Government threw out plans for the road-to-rail scheme which would have seen the erection of a 17-metre-high depot created on part of the former rail freight yard off Sir Harry Lauder Road.

The proposal had already been rejected in 2008 by the city council after hundreds of local objections but the company behind the scheme, Viridor, lodged an appeal at Holyrood.

Now it is planning to bring forward fresh proposals after re-working the scheme based on the findings of the public inquiry held earlier this year.

Martin Grey, Viridor's communications manager, said: "Whilst Viridor was disappointed by the decision to refuse the road-to-rail waste transfer station in relation to the visual impact of an industrial type building, it was encouraged that a range of considerations had been addressed."

Viridor said it was committed to investing up to 800 million in Scotland over the next five years. But Diana Cairns, a member of campaign group Portobello Opposes New Garbage Site, said there was likely to be concern among local residents about the new proposals.

She said: "My initial thought would be that the Scottish Government reporter said the facility was not needed.

"It was going to be within yards of people's homes and people were concerned about the noise, the smell and hundreds of additional HGVs going past every day."

The Scottish Government decided to uphold the city council's refusal of planning application following the inquiry into the 7m facility earlier this year.

Edinburgh East MP Sheila Gilmore said: "This is a slap in the face for the people who raised huge amounts of money to fight this case on their own."