More flats set to be bulldozed to make way for new homes

The city council is set to extend its original regeneration plans for the Pennywell and Muirhouse area by including more blocks that were not part of the initial masterplan.

The original scheme was to see nearly 500 new homes being built within five sites to the north and south of the area.

But including the six blocks at Muirhouse Parkway and Pennywell Gardens is expected to mean that dozens more homes could be built in the council's 21st Century Homes programme to regenerate the area. The blocks currently contain 42 council house tenants and 18 owner-occupiers and it is expected that the total demolition cost, including rehousing and buying back ex-council properties, will be 2.1m.

The decision to include the extra blocks in the regeneration plans comes after a public consultation indicated a majority of residents in the block were in favour of demolition.

Councillor Paul Edie, the city's housing leader, said: "I always have mixed feelings about demolitions because a lot of people have lived happy lives, brought up children, celebrated birthdays and such like within these buildings. But the standard of the new homes is so high and it is much better to improve things and build better homes.

"I welcome this approach and I hope that this will mean we can insert this new area into our masterplan and create more new houses in this area."

He said that rebuilding the houses will get them up to Scottish Government standards, while also making them more affordable to live in than the current flats because of better insulation.

The mix of affordable homes and private homes, as well as the types of homes that will be built, has still to be finalised for the new parts of the site. But Cllr Edie said: "We have learnt from the mistakes of planners of the past because most stable communities are mixed estates."

Three quarters of the residents of Muirhouse Parkway and Pennywell Gardens took part in a council consultation on possible demolition, with 63 per cent in favour and 28 per cent preferring refurbishment.

Michael Thain, the city council's strategy and investment manager, said: "We have now consulted with the residents of these blocks and asked for their preference. The majority are in favour of demolition. We have also consulted with local businesses and there is broad support for demolition."

Forth councillor Cammy Day, who is also housing spokesman for the Labour group at the city council, said: "There is insufficient housing in the city to meet this demand and to knock down 60 without having anywhere to replace them immediately is a concern and there needs to be an alternative option. It may be that we could start building some of the other houses first, then we'd have somewhere for them to be decanted into."

PUB LEFT 'ON ITS KNEES'

There are claims the council's drive to build new housing in Muirhouse has brought a local pub to "its knees" - with eight workers set to lose their jobs.

John Burrell, 52, manager of The Gunner in Pennywell Road, claims shops and pubs in the area have suffered because too many residents have been moved away.

He said he had seen a massive decrease in his profits and believed the pub may only have five or six weeks of trading left.

"The pub is on its knees now. This situation has come about through no fault of the shopkeepers or pub owners, it's the fault of the council - they've done it all wrong.

"To take that number of people out of the area in one go is just ludicrous.

"Everybody in the area has suffered - you don't have to be Einstein to realise that taking people away from the area is going to have a massive affect on the shops.

"The people in Princes Street got compensation because of the trams, but we're getting nothing."