Residents win store battle

PEOPLE power has won out after councillors gave a new Sainsbury's supermarket the green light.

The application to build the Longstone site had been recommended for refusal by the city's planning department, but councillors yesterday gave it the nod after 500 local residents signed a petition supporting the development.

The new 80,000sq ft store "on stilts" is expected to create 165 full-time and 330 part-time jobs in the area.

It will also fill the derelict B&Q site on Inglis Green Road, which has been vacant since 2009 and heavily vandalised in recent years.

Paul Miller, Sainsbury's national surveyor in Scotland, said: "Sainsbury's identified this site as a perfect location to complement our existing offer within Edinburgh and I am thrilled that the city's councillors have taken this decision.

"The level of support and warm welcome Sainsbury's has received from the local community has been overwhelming and I would like to thank the local community for this.

"We are keen to proceed as quickly as possible."

The shop had been recommended for refusal amid concerns about the adverse impact on the Gorgie/Dalry town centre, as well as shops at Chesser and Hermiston Gait.

Longstone Community Council planning officer Steuart Campbell, a former architect who organised the petition, said: "It is pretty unusual for a community to be so supportive of a supermarket development, and I would say part of that is down to the problems of this derelict site being left vacant.

"They (the council] have a responsibility to see derelict sites cleaned up and put back into use.

"The offering here for shopping isn't great and this would be a significant improvement."

Alex Brodie, director of development partners and site owners Morbaine Ltd, said: "This decision is a victory for common sense and local democracy.

"Local people in the Longstone area have been right behind this project from the start and even collected a petition of 500 names. In voting overwhelmingly for the store, members have shown that they have listened to these arguments and the voice of the people."

Sainsbury's has also launched an application to create a convenience store on Bernard Street, Leith, creating 25 jobs, and plans for a new local store at Barnton.